Alison Cotton – “Violet May” 
I missed this one on its first blush, but have been pouring back through some missed singles and dove right into this new track from Alison Cotton’s upcoming release The Portrait You Painted of Me, coming in May as a split between Rocket Recordings and Feeding Tube. Starker than her past work, and certainly more harrowing than The Left Outsides, “Violet May” is a funeral folk number, showing off Cotton’s resonant vocals and her stunning stringwork. The video, directed by Rocket’s John O’Carroll, lets a portrait come to life — a visage of darkness that pulls the listener down to tidal depths. Darkness permeates the song, a veil of death, a season of mourning. There’s something almost medieval about the track. It’s steeped in an overcast sadness that can’t be shaken for some time after the last notes leave the air. The new album is out May 20th.