With her 2004 debut The Pirate's Gospel, Alela Diane offered a refreshing twist on Americana with a arresting voice that floated over cascading acoustic guitar arpeggios. She has since embellished her literate, starkly defined indie-folk with airy strings and percussion, all in service of detailed story songs like "Émigré", which compares motherhood to a tumultuous yet rewarding journey by sea. Meanwhile, "Ether & Wood" opens with piano, then shifts to a lyrical meditation on death and rebirth.