Leyla McCalla‘s “Sun Without The Heat” Album Download ZIP MP3 Files

Leyla McCalla, a multilingual singer-songwriter, who has risen to produce a distinctive sound that reflects the union of her roots and experience, has announced her new album ‘Sun Without the Heat.’

The album is said to be playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, Leyla possesses a stunning mastery of the cello, tenor banjo, and guitar. She is sharing two tracks from the album today that show its range, in terms of sound and storytelling. The album is set to release on April 12.

One of the tracks she is sharing is called “Scaled to Survive”. It is about being born and the connection we have with our parents, particularly our mothers. Leyla was inspired by Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ powerful book called Undrowned. The book explores the transformative lessons of marine mammals as recipes for survival – ones that reach across species. McCalla quotes Gumbs as she sings to parents and those who parent us beyond blood, “Thank you for laughing me into your portal.”

TRACKLIST

  1. Open the Road
  2. Scaled to Survive 
  3. Take Me Away
  4. So I’ll Go
  5. Tree
  6. Sun Without the Heat
  7. Tower
  8. Love We Had 
  9. Give Yourself a Break
  10. I Want to Believe

About Leyla McCalla

Leyla Sarah McCalla is an American musician who specializes in classical and folk music. She was a cellist with Carolina Chocolate Drops, a string band that won a Grammy Award. However, she decided to leave the band and focus on her solo career.

McCalla’s parents were both born in Haiti. Her father, Jocelyn McCalla, served as the Executive Director of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights in New York from 1988 to 2006. He contributed to her album Vari-Colored Songs as a translator. McCalla’s mother, Régine Dupuy, arrived in the United States at the age of 5 and is the daughter of Ben Dupuy, who ran Haïti Progrès, a Haitian socialist newspaper based in New York. Régine Dupuy founded Dwa Fanm, a human rights organization that fights against domestic violence.

McCalla was born in Queens, New York City, and grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey, where she attended Columbia High School. She spent two years living in Accra, Ghana, as a teenager. After attending Smith College for one year, she moved to New York University to study cello performance and chamber music. In 2010, she moved to New Orleans, where she played music on the streets of the French Quarter to improve her skills. Apart from playing the cello, she is also proficient in playing the banjo and guitar.