Alicia Viani drops single, ‘Lonesome for You,’ in Bend

Published 12:15 am Thursday, February 20, 2020

Folk singer-songwriter Alicia Viani examines loneliness and alienation with an authentically world-weary voice in single “Lonesome for You,” the first volley from her upcoming, self-titled album. Viani, a mainstay on Bend’s music scene alongside performing partner/bassist Mark Karwan, recorded the album live in Nashville with producer/singer-songwriter Amy Speace and a band featuring Karwan, Speace, guitarist/dobro player Thomm Jutz (who also engineered and mixed the album), keyboardist Jen Gunderman and drummer Lynn Williams.

“That’s the loneliest of the lonely, when there’s somebody right in front of you but you can’t reach them,” Viani said in a news release about the single. Having spent much of her youth overseas living in Japan, Indonesia, Mongolia and more, Viani perfectly captures this sense of being surrounded by others but still feeling alone, as she laments that “my head’s on your shoulder, breath on your neck, but I’m lonesome for you” in the first verse.

Musically the song builds on Viani’s gentle acoustic strumming and Karwan’s understated bass line, with organ swells and minimalist percussion weaving in and out of the mix. While the alt-country-ish track lopes along at a meandering pace, the band builds a melancholic tension that seems ready to burst out of the speakers (or headphones).

Viani will release the song at a show at The Brown Owl on Saturday featuring a band of Bend musical heavy-hitters, including Karwan, Pete Kartsounes, Benji Nagel (Skillethead, Honey Don’t) and Scott Oliphant (The Color Study).

— Brian McElhiney, The Bulletin