This month, PENTATONE’s Managing Director Sean Hickey selects Lara Downes’ Hold These Truths as our Personal Pick:
“Like the person, Hold These Truths – the latest and most ambitious album yet from pianist and iconoclast Lara Downes – is difficult to categorize. And because of it we have something that is both beautiful and lasting.
“I was at the beach on a windy afternoon when Lara first called me about a programming idea centered around and culminating in America’s 250th birthday, one that asks an existential question: ‘who are we?’ We kicked around various things, and she landed upon the framework of the idea that you see here. After that call, Lara embarked on a nationwide tour of communities to better understand our nation, one that would last nearly two years, and which most certainly continues. Lara returned delivering an unmistakable message of hope in a time of great uncertainty. The essence of our founding promise.
“This album is a manifestation of that hope. Rather than a jukebox of Americana, Lara commissioned new works and arrangements, discovered forgotten ones, and invited a diverse group of individuals to give voice to her vision. The result is complicated, simple, fraught, and ultimately hopeful, centered on storytelling for which she excels. This is one to celebrate and to savor, a declaration for our time.”
Hold These Truths is now available as a digital-only release.
