Aleah SVART
Magical melancholy from the late, great Ms Starbridge
Aleah Starbridge: an amazing talent gone far too soon
AT A TIME when many of us are contemplating the impact of grief, the long-awaited release of Aleah Starbridge’s solo album seems almost unbearably poignant. Lovingly completed by the late singer’s partner, Swallow The Sun’s Juha Raivio, Aleah feels like the final piece of the musical jigsaw that began with the posthumous release of Trees Of Eternity’s sole album, Hour of The Nightingale, in 2017, a year after the singer’s passing. For Raivio’s own feelings on his lost love, those with a robust constitution should listen to Swallow The Sun’s truly harrowing Lumina Aurea. But it’s this bewitching showcase for a cruelly thwarted talent that arguably packs the heftiest punch.