free music friday: kelli ali

Friday 13th is still a date that makes people suck their breath in over their teeth like a dodgy plumber, then exhale with a jesting “Oh, better watch yourself…bad luck and all!” or words to that effect. Whether it be a day of bad luck, black magic or superstition, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the US are affected by a fear of Friday 13th – or so state ye olde texts of Wikipedia – so why any corporate bigwig hasn’t thought of marketing good-luck cards for this day in particular is surely a lost opportunity? Think about it. No cheesier than those tragic souls who send out Valentines as casually as office Christmas cards.

Former Sneaker Pimps vocalist Kelli Ali describes ‘Rocking Horse’ – the title track of her recent Max Richter-produced folk album – as representing “a pendulum between good and evil”, lurching one way then the next. Fittingly for the rather odd coincidence that is Friday 13th followed by Valentine’s Day, she’s given us a new version of the song that plays up its spookier aspects with eerie flute and dramatic, full-blooded strings that usher the song into the panic and chaos of what could easily be the soundtrack to a pagan ritual sacrifice. Taken from her tour-only CD Butterfly, it makes a neat little bundle packaged alongside an acoustic reworking of ‘Willow’s Song’ from ‘The Wicker Man’ film on new single ‘The Savages’. Kelli’s inquisitive probing into human behaviour wears almost like a good luck charm against nasty spirits. Watch your back though, just in case.

FREE MP3: Kelli Ali, ‘Rocking Horse’

Download ‘The Savages’ single from iTunes

Written by: Leigh Bartlam

Tags: kelli ali, rocking horse

This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 4:09 pm and is filed under All A/V, free music friday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.