Marina Allen tours the Northern Rivers

LA-based songwriter Marina Allen is touring her third studio album and stopping in the Northern Rivers next month for two dates.

Eight Pointed Star is a clear-eyed modern classic of alternative folk and Americana – an album about searching, discovery, hope, and ancestry.

Its soul-searching is not complicated, and trust is the centrifugal force around which themes of love, family and folklore spin.

“As much as you can have will and ambition, those things often get in the way of a fluidity to life and where you’re supposed to be,” Allen said.

“You can make yourself dizzy wanting to be somewhere you’re not.

“With Eight-Pointed Star, I’m trying to harness that beginner’s mind again while having the scars and wisdom that come from biting into the fruits of knowledge.”

Singing in community churches and school choirs was Allen’s fundamental musical education. Her affection runs profoundly for singers who she says ‘can really sing’, from The Roches to Karen Dalton, Joanna Newsom to Meredith Monk.

Allen’s voice is inimitable and stands up to her musical heroes.

Songs that feel like classics tell contemporary tales of artificial intelligence, watching TV and listening to coyotes harmonising with car alarms.

“Abstraction in lyricism is in crisis and that inspired me, and what I find to be the most powerful in art,” Allen said.

“But it’s a balance of clearly saying the things I want to say while also listening to what is being said on the fringes of my subconscious.

“Those thoughts can be elusive and mischievous but often hold a truth that literalism can’t make out. I’m asking you to listen with me.

“The way that I write music is fundamentally a trust exercise – allowing your mind to be quiet, seeing what arises and following the flickers.

“I think of songwriting in general as a collage – scrapping together these ideas to create a new whole.

“But it’s also for looking into the future with this thing that’s supposed to give you, I don’t know, hope.”

Allen plays M|Arts in Murwillumbah on May 14 and The Eltham on May 15.

For tickets, visit events.humanitix.com/marina-allen-usa-supported-by-hot-apple-band-syd