Doe Paoro
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Doe Paoro

Brooklyn, New York, United States | INDIE

Brooklyn, New York, United States | INDIE
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"THE LINE OF BEST FIT - Listen: Doe Paoro – Hallelujah"

New York born singer and instrumentalist Doe Paoro garnered some attention for her debut album last year.

Slow to Love was marked out for its fusion of minimalist post-dubstep production and her unusual and affecting vocal tones.

Well traveled, in recent months she has spent time living and writing in Sweden, and wandering the Himalayas alone, studying a form of Tibetan opera known as the Lhamo. As a Brooklyn native with a thirst for musical exploration, the influences on her forthcoming album are sure to be strange and wonderful. Further reason to be intrigued is the whisper of collaborations with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn & John.

Next month Paoro will head to SXSW for a number of live performances but before that, there’s the little matter of this haunting cover of Leonard Cohen’s challenging classic ’Hallelujah’. Challenging in that it’s difficult to make a song everyone’s heard a million times before sound like your own.

The trick here is not to over blow the vocals or rearrange melodies from recognition, from the first hint of Yuri Hart’s delicate cello and as Paoro’s voice rises and falls during the sweeping harmonies of the song, there’s something unsettling and utterly absorbing about the seemingly effortless way it all sounds so simple. - The Line of Best Fit


"STEREOGUM - 2012 In Review: The New Wave Of R&B Comes Into Full Bloom"

I was dumbfounded by the beauty and distinction of Doe Paoro‘s Erykah Badu-meets-Imogen Heap meditation Slow To Love and comforted by Rhye’s subtle somnambulance. Solange, who has superstar credentials but really belongs with this bunch, teamed with Dev Hynes to produce this year’s most effortlessly effervescent EP. From the sounds of early singles by the likes of Autre Ne Veut, Dungeonesse and Toro Y Moi, next year is shaping up to be just as fruitful in this field. - STEREOGUM


"THE EXAMINER - Artist to Watch: Brooklyn's Own Songstress Doe Paoro"

Refreshing, genuinely great new music is hard to come by, right? Right. If you’ve all but given up on hearing something you haven’t heard before then kindly tune your ears onto Brooklyn based lady Doe Paoro. For fans of Lykke Li, CoCo Rosie and Cat Power, she’s a divine treat.

Doe’s debut album “Slow to Love” debuted a few weeks ago and is available on iTunes as well as her bandcamp page. It’s one thing for an album to be so flawlessly written, recorded and performed, but it’s another to accurately portray the beauty during a live performance. A struggle that Doe Paoro is clearly not worried about because she’s nailed it.

Taking the stage downstairs at Lower East Side’s Pianos, Doe Paoro almost possessed the crowd (which managed to sell out the place) with her commanding voice and earthy sound effects, produced on a separate mic. The perfect opening track on the album (“Born Whole”) translated to the perfect opening song. Even with a drum mishap that seemed to have omit the instrument entirely, Doe carried the song effortlessly. If you had never heard the song before, you would have never guessed it originally had the drums (though Doe later ended her set with the correct version of “Born Whole”).
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Doe Paoro held her own – the tiny songstress danced around the stage and performed her songs with fury. The upbeat songs got their share of movement and the slower, more intense tunes (heartbreaking “Can’t Leave You”) got their fair share of emotional debauchery onstage. During the middle of her set, a fan turned to her friend and exclaimed, “this girl doesn’t even need the microphone!”

If this is what this young artist is like in the budding phase of her music career, Doe Paoro is going to be a wrecking ball for other artists in no time.
- The Examiner


"THE VILLAGE VOICE - Download: Doe Paoro's Untethered, Spectral "Born Whole""

Brooklyn singer-songwriter Doe Paoro is a wild mixture of contemporary sounds and ancient techniques. Her single "Born Whole," taken from her debut Slow to Love (out last month), has the spectral fervor of Zola Jesus's haunted house swirl, Adele's retromaniacal bombast and ghostly traces of James Blake's post-dubstep—but Paoro's take on modern art-pop comes from an untethered vocal style she credits to her study of lhamo, the centuries-old Tibetan opera tradition. "Born Whole" starts as nimble, muted neo-soul but finds its magical energy through post-chorus flights of vocal fancy—think Winehouse-gone-Diamanda and you're close. Its unsettling video was shot with four close friends in her Syracuse hometown. Collaborator Miranda Siegel conceived its theme, as Paoro describes it, "of a fruitless quest and getting trapped in cycles of attachment and detachment," all influenced by their shared practice of vipassana meditation, the Buddhist tradition that seeks to understand the truths of reality.
- The Village Voice


"THE L MAGAZINE - On Doe Paoro and the Influence of R&B on Indie Rock"

Maybe it was when Dirty Projectors released “Stillness Is The Move;” maybe it was when Solange Knowles released her cover of the same song. Sometime around then, the influence of R&B on a certain segment of underground music became undeniable. The work of Doe Paoro, currently in the middle of a month-long residency at Williamburg’s Cameo Gallery, serves as an interesting example of where this movement—bringing together one generation’s pop sensibility with another’s fondness for DIY and underground spaces—might be headed. Some of the artists sharing bills with her during this period come from the more esoteric or experimental side of things—Thrill Jockey avant-dub artist Jason Urick, for instance. Yet Paoro herself is capable of both tapping into eccentric musical traditions and making deeply accessible pop music. Some of her recent album, Slow to Love, heads into decidedly strange territory—running her vocals through layers of distortion, for instance, or creating claustrophobic spaces around her voice on the title track. Elsewhere, she mines a more traditional vein. “Can’t Leave You” is a properly torchy ballad, structured around a piano melody and occasionally featuring swelling backing vocals.

Paoro is far from the only artist right now to marry an underground sensibility with unabashedly pop influences. Watching How to Dress Well play a DIY space last winter was a study in contradictions: on the one hand, it was iconoclastic enough to fit there, but the mood was light-years away from watching a more experimental act there. And while Tom Krell’s music has the sort of density and blissed-out tendencies that appeal to many a fan of ambient/drone music, it’s also clearly coming from an R & B tradition.

This crossover between indie and R & B isn’t exactly a new thing; just listen to Dub Narcotic Sound System’s 1996 song “Ship to Shore” (with vocals from Lois Maffeo)—it’s not intended as pastiche, but rather an as example of a style that all of the musicians involve clearly love. And I suspect that the influence of Prince, whether musical or aesthetic (or both), has also played a part in this resurgence of R&B in DIY scenes. (The music of Autre Ne Veut, in particular, comes to mind here.)

On the flip side of this crossover moment are artists who seem to be paying tribute to the genre’s most sentimental side. The Minneapolis-based Gayngs are perhaps the most self-referential of the bunch, and yet the style (mostly) works; “The Last Prom On Earth,” for instance, sounds both like a condensed version of the style and an excellent example of it. At the same time, there’s the tendency of parts of this to veer into overt emulation of the most sentimental and least (musically) interesting aspects of mid-90s pop—Bon Iver’s “Beth/Rest,” I’m looking at you. For now, at least, Paoro’s songs remain memorable for both their catchier aspects and the more offbeat aspects of their production. That she’s equally at home with large-scale ballads and Future Islands covers suggests a promising sense of balance at work in her own aesthetic sensibility. - The L Magazine


"BEST NEW BANDS - Soft but Strong, Doe Paoro Can Really Hold a Room"

Doe Paoro is one of those performers that you may not realize how good they are until you see them live. In the case of this Brooklyn-based chanteuse, her Bandcamp gives an idea of her vocal ability, but her live performance at Glasslands Wednesday night was jaw-dropping. Paired with live drums, the slight vibrato of analog organ, and the warm, organic texture of a cello, her voice rung out and echoed off the walls. She didn’t need any extra reverb or delay. She infuses her songs with deep soul and honest emotion, and her unassuming but strong stage presence conveyed that. She wasn’t just singing empty lyrics – I believed every word.

Paoro began with a room-silencing a capella, immediately showing off her range and showcasing techniques from studying Lhamo (Tibetan folk opera) in the Himalayas. It was a meditation, it was a mantra, it was a call to gather and listen. She then gently beckoned the crowd to move closer, softly saying “come, come.” Everyone immediately moved forward without hesitation, as if literally being moved by her musical force. She encouraged singing along as well, and even though many people seemed to already know the words, anyone who didn’t could catch on easily, as there is chant-like repetition of meaningful phrases that serve as solid reinforcement in Paoro’s songs. On “Born Whole” the crowd really lit up, especially when the beat dropped in the song – that was solid badassness, and there was no way to not feel awakened by the pumping bass.

The repetition and the singing along created this air of togetherness, and Paoro made sure to point it out, remarking, “There’s a really good vibe in here!” She was right. There was just something about the raw feeling in her delivery. Some of her high notes came out rather grating to the ears, but it felt meant to be, just like how many life experiences can be startling and uncomfortable. It was something to behold, and it was something to remind us that we were born whole. After the last song the crowd pleaded for an encore of “One! More! Song!” but Paoro and her band had to load offstage to make way for the final act of the night. - Best New Bands


"New York Magazine - The Approval Matrix: Week of February 13, 2012"

Slow to Love, by Brooklyn singer Doe Paoro, merges R&B with the vocally acrobatic stylings of Tibetan Folk Opera.
- New York Magazine


"RCRD LBL - PREMIERE: Doe Paoro - Born Whole + Little Dreamer (Future Islands Cover)"

The blithe, the blessed, the unscarred: those are not welcome here. For the rest of you, meet the haunting alley cat songstress that is Doe Paoro and her withering single “Born Whole.” With little more than her tarry vocals, a mild dubstep mist and the pounding of a few plaintive piano keys, she’ll scratch what’s left of your heart into ragged bits. Her atonal cover of Future Islands’ “Little Dreamer” is sparer still, and just as raw and emotive. Slow To Love is Ms. Paoro’s debut LP, and she’ll be unleashing it on those in need of a good cry on Valentine’s Day. - RCRD LBL


"STEREOGUM - Band to Watch: Doe Paoro"

Out this week is Slow To Love, the album by Brooklyn-based torch-song singer Doe Paoro. She comes with some steam and production vision behind her already, which you can see in the crisp videos for “Born Whole” and “Can’t Leave You,” and via the strings that color the latter, or the session-player fretless-bass style that slices up Paoro’s R&B-by-way-of-Badu on “Born.” The record’s overall vibe is spacious verging on skeletal, though, suggesting a demo-like atmosphere which is actually somewhat becoming: Doe possess both a clean, capable voice, and the propensity to dip into Imogen Heap-y vocoder; she’s better when she’s more honest herself, and her instrument. Paoro has a pop song called “Body Games” ready for makeup commercials, a track called “I’ll Go Blind” that will sit well with those psyched about D’Angelo’s return, and a cover of a track by the great Baltimore synth-pop outfit Future Islands, and you can get at all of those — and the whole record — below - Stereogum


"Live Review: Doe Paoro Debut Show at Pianos"

Alt-Soul, Brooklyn based artist Doe Paoro (former Sonia's Party) played her debut live show at Lower East Side bar Pianos on Tuesday. She soon made clear that this new project - miles away from her previous party band - is mostly centered around vocal experimentation. Accompanied by piano, drums and cello, Doe Paoro opened singing into 2 microphones with different vocal effects, which created an ethereal reverberation around her stunning voice. Throughout the show, the singer's vocal exploration ranged from a soulful croon, to guttural cries, to rasping whispers. She controlled the room with an effortless calm, staring into the eyes of the audience, and reinforcing the songs' feeling with undeniable stage presence. - Chelsea Eriksen - Deli Magazine


"The Approval Matrix: Week of February 13, 2012"

Slow to Love, by Brooklyn singer Doe Paoro, merges R&B with the vocally acrobatic stylings of Tibetan Folk Opera.
- New York Magazine


"DOE PAORO"

Like every other blogger we get plenty of emails. Well, when we say plenty, we figured out we get one every 11 minutes, all day, every day. It’s somewhat boring to go on about it, but our point is that there’s a whole stack of music waiting in our inbox every time we fire up our Gmail. Naturally, we don’t like to miss out on any exciting artists, so we do our best to wade through when we get time, although it’s more like using a thimble to bail out The Titanic. Sometimes this means that we have to rush through songs. We give them as much time as we can, but on the odd occasion we are found hurriedly skipping through the song, especially if it hasn’t grabbed us immediately. Those tunes which do grab us from the outset get more time. It’s not a perfect solution, but we would be there all day if we gave every tune it’s full three to six minutes. Every now and again though, one bowls you over. It doesn’t just get played in full, it arrests you faster than a dodgy copper in a bad mood and has our finger glued to the repeat button. Today Doe Paoro did exactly that. You have been warned, this is a stop-whatever-you’re-doing moment.

This is music for grown ups, in that it’s dark and somewhat scary, so much so that even the adults are likely to be cowering behind the sofas as they listen. Doe Paoro, aka Sonia Kreitzer, describes her music as “ghost soul“, which confirms the haunting imagery her songs clearly provoke, but there’s a rounded set of curves to her otherwise sparse piano-and-vocal constructions. It’s also bursting with originality, as she uses her vocal talents – and this is a major talent – to produce sounds that weave unique inventiveness throughout each song. In recent months she’s earned some useful coverage in her home borough of Brooklyn, with write ups in magazines such as The Deli and coverage on the established music blog, Brooklyn Vegan, as well as appearances on East Village Radio. Now she’s filtering through to the press this side of the Atlantic, with the below video premiering on NME.com on February 8th.

The first thing to emerge from her was a wonderful cover of Future Island‘s Little Dreamer, which completely recreates it from the ground up, well, more like from six feet under and up. The vocals hold it together over a piano that has it’s keys played so sparsely it’s as if every note takes the time to be gently woken up before being heard. Her voice seems slightly fried, as if being delivered through the television in Poltergeist, but even with all this in mind it still attracts, rather than spooks. Like James Blake, it’s her ability to tap into the melody that works so well. It’s not a ghost she produces, but the soul ripped from the ghost. This white girl soul is found once again with Can’t Leave You, which has vocals strengths akin to Adele, showing us a level of skill that can only be obtained with some classical training. Yes it warbles and wails, but there’s also melancholy cotton-picker’s texture to it throughout. She plays the heart-strings like a violin that’s being plucked, with a tension and a bleak sadness bleeding all over it.

Born Whole is equally as unplugged, once more bringing us tones and shades associated with James Blake, beginning with a styled, almost TuneYards-like vocal oddness. This apparently comes from her study of Lhamo, which we’ve been informed is an unusual Tibetan method of vocal operatics, something she discovered when recently travelling alone through the Himalayas. It’s sourcing inspirations such as these that weave elements of such originality in her music. The hip hop confidence then arrives as the chain-gang beat begins to thud the march. It all combines to secure a truly fine piece of timeless songcraft, and the video is just as thoughtful. It sets up the debut album, Slow To Love, very nicely indeed. It’s due out next week, on February 14th, and promises to stir all who encounter it. She may describe her songs as ghostly, but what the listener doesn’t realise is that it’s as if this artist really enters the room once you’ve committed to the play button. Your stereo becomes the Ouija board, the air turns ice cold and you’ll witness something you cannot prepare yourself for. Sometimes we never quite know the reasons why we’re compelled to listen to an artist in full, rather than simply deleting it and moving on, but with Doe Paoro we get it – she possessed us, and sorry, but as soon as you click play on the below buttons you too will be just as entranced. (MB) - The Recommender


"SOUL TO THE MAX WITH DOE PAORO [VIDEO]"

Brooklyn songstress Doe Paoro is prepping her debut LP, Slow To Love, for a Valentine’s Day release, but from the looks and sound of this video/song combo for “Born Whole”, it’s going to more like the anti-. Looking to catch this soul princess live in concert? Paoro is hosting her album release party on February 13 right here in New York City at Glasslands. Enjoy the video and stay tuned for more. - The Wild Honey Pie


"Doe Paoro- Slow To Love "

Maybe the most unique impetus for birthing a record, Sonia Kreitzer (AKA Doe Paoro) was inspired by her time sequestered in the Himilayas, where she became fascinated by the sounds of the Tibetan Orchestra. Upon returning home, she got to work on her self-proclaimed ‘Ghost Soul’ genre, isolating herself in a cabin to pen this debut album. Having already created a significant buzz with her Future Islands cover, the rising songstress has developed a cult like status among ears for the unconventional singer/songwriter.

Though she may be a new name to most, Paoro has paid her dues in full already. Having taught herself piano as a youngster, she’s already been part of several bands (most notably Heaven With Your Boots On), though this new disc is a more spiritual endeavor for Paoro, entirely her own vision, and is ultimately the sum total of her experiences within the last year. Instilling sounds of ‘a choir of ghosts who haven’t completely detached from the human experience’.

Possessing a voice with an incredible range, Doe Paoro makes excellent use of pianos, cellos and violins against her haunting arrangements. Utilizing a vocal style called Lhamo- a powerful, atypical and vocally acrobatic Tibetan-style opera- there is a good chance that you’ve never heard songcraft quite like this, Slow To Love containing dark themes of sorrow and a complete and total outpouring of emotion that is both delicate yet gritty. Moody and captivating, this will leave you enthralled, hanging on every word. - TheBykeRack.com


"Home PREMIERE: Doe Paoro - Born Whole + Little Dreamer (Future Islands Cover)"

The blithe, the blessed, the unscarred: those are not welcome here. For the rest of you, meet the haunting alley cat songstress that is Doe Paoro and her withering single “Born Whole.” With little more than her tarry vocals, a mild dubstep mist and the pounding of a few plaintive piano keys, she’ll scratch what’s left of your heart into ragged bits. Her atonal cover of Future Islands’ “Little Dreamer” is sparer still, and just as raw and emotive. Slow To Love is Ms. Paoro’s debut LP, and she’ll be unleashing it on those in need of a good cry on Valentine’s Day. - RCRD LBL


"Live Review: Doe Paoro debut show at Pianos"

Alt-Soul, Brooklyn based artist Doe Paoro (former Sonia's Party) played her debut live show at Lower East Side bar Pianos on Tuesday. She soon made clear that this new project - miles away from her previous party band - is mostly centered around vocal experimentation. Accompanied by piano, drums and cello, Doe Paoro opened singing into 2 microphones with different vocal effects, which created an ethereal reverberation around her stunning voice. Throughout the show, the singer's vocal exploration ranged from a soulful croon, to guttural cries, to rasping whispers. She controlled the room with an effortless calm, staring into the eyes of the audience, and reinforcing the songs' feeling with undeniable stage presence. - Chelsea Eriksen - Deli Magazine


"Introducing Doe Paoro"

It’s not often that an artist can demand absolute attention with just a couple tracks — Chelsea Wolfe, Brittany Howard and Lana Del Ray (love her or hate her, she got your attention) are three that come to mind over the past twelve months — and now the piano-playing, heartbreaking, Doe Paoro can be added to that list of female vocalists who all bring something classic, yet modern, to this crowded music scene.

A quick search will uncover that Paoro (PAH-ro), given name Sonia Kreitzer, went to high school in New York and college in Ohio before moving to San Francisco and starting the bluesy/alt rock band Heaven with Your Boots On. In 2006 she moved to Brooklyn and started another band called Sonia’s Party before embarking on a solo trip to the Himalayas. In was on this journey that the seeds for Doe Paoro were planted. She returned to New York with a new-found sense of spirituality and love for Tibetan opera, which explains the all encompassing sound of her first single, Can’t Leave You — it sounds like it could have been recorded in the one of those long abandoned halls of the Potala Palace.

Keep an ear out for her debut album, Slow To Love, in 2012. In the meantime, enjoy the first single, a Future Islands cover and an opera recording below. - I Listen, So You Don't Have To


"Doe, Oh Dear"

It is said that her music deeply reflects the “space between silence and sound”, just as one would with negative and positive space in an image. In the age of the Loudness War, I think it is fair to say that she may have the right idea.

Doe Paoro studied Lhamo, a Tibetan style opera, while she traveled through Tibet over the past year. Her album, Slow to Love, was born on her return to the US, in a cabin near Syracuse, New York.

Cellist Yuri Hart and Lasse Martin (Decibel Studios) saw Doe Paoro performing her first single, “Can’t Leave You”, on Youtube. Her vocals, combined with her piano playing, prompted the two to collaborate with her. The single is now available here for download:

http://soundcloud.com/themuseboxmuse/doe-paoro-cant-leave-you

I was skeptical. I feel that a lot of artists state that they have gone to travel, find something new, and come back with only a different attitude–sometimes a falsified outlook.

I was pleasantly surprised by the track. It really is beautiful and serene, while emotional. It conjures up the same forest landscapes and mountaintops that come to my mind when I listen to Bon Iver. I’m curious to see if she has been influenced by Justin Vernon’s work at all.

This is the type of music that makes me miss the woods and apple orchards (I’m originally from New Hampshire and these are comforting places, darn it!), and her songs brought a smile to my face for that reason. Perhaps it was the influence of where she wrote the songs. However, there is a haunting mood settled over it. - La Paradiddle


"Doe Paoro"

Kreitzer’s soulful voice is impenetrable, pinned against the backdrop of cello, violin and piano. That description alone should do it for you (and make all regular readers know why I love it so much), but Kreitzer does so much more. She’s not afraid to test her vocal limits (both high and low), and I like that. I like it a lot. Doe Paoro, you slay me. - Knox Road


"Doe Paoro “Can’t Leave You” C=T"

Her poignant vocals are the type that make you feel butterflies in the pit of your stomach like witnessing your love at first sight. - causeequalstime.com


"Doe Paoro “Can’t Leave You” C=T"

Her poignant vocals are the type that make you feel butterflies in the pit of your stomach like witnessing your love at first sight. - causeequalstime.com


"Future Islands, Ed Schrader's Music Beat & Zomes @ Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

« Deer Tick pees in new video, playing Brooklyn Bowl on New Year's Eve ++++ Diamond Rugs release Christmas song (MP3) | Clothing store Forever 21 pulls replica of Kurt Cobain's handmade Flipper shirt »
Posted in music | pictures on December 5, 2011
Future Islands, Ed Schrader's Music Beat & Zomes @ Bowery Ballroom (pics)

photos by Sarahana

Future Islands @ Bowery Ballroom
Future Islands

Released in October, Future Islands' third album, "On the Water," features cellos, violins and acoustic percussion -- along with background sounds captured outdoors at a North Carolina waterfront. The natural world also features heavily in the album's song titles, including "The Great Fire," "Give Us the Wind" and the title track.

Add to that songs such as "Before the Bridge" and "Tybee Island," and there seems to be an elemental theme. But Cashion says "On the Water" is not a concept record.

"This is a group of songs that work well together as an album," he says. "But there was no underlying concept we were discussing when we wrote it. I feel like it takes a certain kind of band to make a true concept record. I'm not sure we're that kind of band." [expressnightout]

Future Islands are officially in their native Baltimore after concluding their US tour in support of Over The Water over the weekend. Falling toward the end of those dates was Bowery Ballroom on 12/1 which also featured tourmates Ed Schrader's Music Beat as well as Zomes. Pictures from that show are in this post.

Future Islands' US tour kicked off in late October and also included stops at Hopscotch, FYFest, and Fun Fun Fun Fest. The band has a couple days off now, but will play a pair of UK dates at the end of this week including ATP's Nightmare before Christmas. They'll then return to tour Europe in Feb/March next year.

In related news, Doe Paoro released a cover of Future Islands' "Little Dreamer" which you can stream, with all dates and more pics from Bowery, below...
- Brooklyn Vegan


"Ink On The Walls"

Doe Paoro has been massively underplayed on the internet in our eyes. What started with the wowing of “Walking Backwards” moved to the equally impressive “Nobody“, and now with the release of her official debut EP, we can sink our teeth into one of the best EPs we’ve heard from the pop genre this year.

Channeling her inner power, Doe has that unique ability to portray much more than a great voice; within her music, we find intricacies in the production, depth in the songwriting, and ebb and flow that matches the emotion carrying her music to that next level. There’s regular old pop music, and then there’s music like Doe’s, indicating something you not only hear, but feel as well, and with Ink On The Walls, there’s much more available that what comes through on the sonic front. - HillyDilly


"PREMIERE: Hear Doe Paoro's Swirling R&Bruiser 'Nobody'"

Doe Paoro may be based in Brooklyn, but the R&B-inclined singer-songwriter decamped to Wisconsin's April Base Studios to record her latest effort, the soon-to-be-released Ink on the Walls EP. Produced by Bon Iver drummer Sean Carey (a.k.a. S. Carey) and BJ Burton (previous credits include Volcano Choir and Poliça), the four-track collection follows Doe Paoro's 2012 debut album, Slow to Love, and is due out April 29. But first comes "Nobody," the short-player's hard-hitting first single, which finds the siren crooning, "Nobody, no-no-body understands" over a mesmerizing beat and pounding drums. Listen below, and head over to iTunes to pre-order the Ink on the Walls EP. - Spin


"PREMIERE: Doe Paoro – “Walking Backwards”"

We named celestial R&B songstress Doe Paoro a Band To Watch two years ago upon the release of her sparse, haunting Slow To Love. She’s back with Ink On The Walls an EP she recorded over the winter at Justin Vernon’s Wisconsin studio with his Bon Iver bud S. Carey and Volcano Choir engineer BJ Burton behind the boards. Vernon features on the EP too, and although he’s not on lead single “Walking Backwards,” its grandiose emotional swell carries traces of his influence. Still, this thing is pure Doe, a New Amerykan torch song delivered with theatrical flair from within a futuristic orchestral sheen. Listen below. - Stereogum


"Listen: Doe Paoro – “Walking Backwards”"

Brooklyn, NY RnB singer-songwriter, Sonia Kreitzer (AKA doe paoro) has typically dealt in fairly straight-ahead soul and RnB: energetic and lively even on her slower jams. On her latest single, though, “Walking Backwards”, from forthcoming EP Ink On The Walls, Kreitzer sounds suddenly weary and disillusioned.

Over a terrifically spare and moody backdrop, Kreitzer paints us a picture of a veritable wasteland in which she wonders, “what will become of me?” Though expertly conveying her disenchantment with the world around her, Kreitzer’s vocals are wholly magnificent, peerlessly melding with the gloomy synths and dash of brass at the chorus.

As if summoning what vapors of energy that may remain, Kreitzer builds a beautifully resolute climax, declaring, “my body’s a mess”, over swelling horns and a rolling snare before she spills into the closing chorus, where she’s amped up the brass quotient and added buzzing flares of synths.

Kreitzer’s Doe Paoro Ink On The Walls EP drops this April on Middle West. - The Line of Best Fit


"Review: Doe Paoro Ink on the Walls"

For her first release since 2012’s vibrant Slow to Love, New York vocalist Doe Paoro has noticeably upgraded both her production quality and vision as an artist. She sounds more confident behind the latter, landing somewhere in the realm between electronic-based jazz and alternative pop, strikingly removed from the raw soulfulness of her debut album. While part of Paoro’s appeal originally came from her unhinged, somewhat feral delivery, she strikes a smart balance on Ink on the Walls that elicits the same off kilter know-how as Saint Heron’s current roster.

Paoro’s most recent output was last year’s “New Lows”, a massively catchy testament to her ability to craft indelible pop masterpieces through her own home-brewed concoction of weirdo soul and jazz. While this EP only shows glimpses of this trait, they are impossible to miss. Right from the start, “Walking Backwards” is readily spellbinding, sidestepping a presumably easy opportunity to cash-in on the latest trend of soulless radio R&B, and digs into more substantial footholds. Paoro’s vocals are always at the forefront, highlighted by comparatively minimal beats, and they possess a newfound fullness that, until now, had never been presented on her recordings. Much of Slow to Love contained the same energy, but it was funneled through presumably lower quality equipment and less engineering.

Having an ostensibly perfect song under her belt with “New Lows”, this EP feels like her chance to explore the territory of her new, fuller voice. “Nobody” is arguably the purest essence of Paoro’s recent transformation; the chorus is massive, her vocals are appropriately smoldering, and it contains roiling electronic accompaniment. Honestly, the track seems like an updated, polished version of “Born Whole”, a standout from her debut, but with a firmer initiative. By elegantly tailoring her voice, Paoro is bound to make good on the potential she exhibited in previous work, and Ink on the Walls feels like the starting point for her new, distinguished sound. By the time the stomp-clap rhythm of “Hypotheticals” comes through, Paoro no longer resembles her old self. Instead, she, phoenix-like, rises from the ashes of her former artistry into a more poised, grander sound.

Though Ink on the Walls is Paoro’s reinvigorated comeback, she travels a fine line between magnanimously wonky pop and the occasionally anonymous pop vocalist trope. After such a stellar beginning, “Nostalgia” feels unrelentingly tedious. Between the dullness of the beat and the bland wordiness of each verse, the song buries any dynamism under three minutes of repetition and, sadly, a wasted opportunity for Paoro to show off her voice. As a result, the near five minute run-time comes across as sluggish next to expertly packaged gems found on the rest of the EP.

At its core, Paoro’s latest is increasingly refreshing after each listen. Not only is it an example of an artist admitting to their potential, but she also shows her ability to grow emphatically. Her interest in expanding the aesthetic of her voice is what keeps her music from ever getting pigeonholed, resulting in an artist with a bright path ahead. If her growth between Slow to Love and Ink on the Walls is any indication, her next album is sure to be an instant classic. - Unrecorded


"Listen: Doe Paoro – “Walking Backwards”"

CMJ Music Marathon alum Sonia Kreitzer, aka Doe Paoro, is working on a new EP, Ink On The Walls, for release this spring on Middle West. Today she shared a single off that EP, the softly emotive Walking Backwards. Though Doe Paoro’s voice waxes and wanes in sporadically textured cadences, the production from Bon Iver drummer, S. Carey, remains minimal, content with staccato synth clicks and whispery percussion. Listen in below. - CMJ


"WATCH: Sunrise, Sunset Series - Doe Paoro"

“Part of my process is to spend as much time creating in silence as possible,” says singer-songwriter Doe Paoro of carving her own brand of ethereal R&B. “Silence clarifies that relationship with sound.” Abandoning the bustling environment of her New York base in favor of a bucolic retreat––the Wisconsin studio of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon––Paoro shows off her distinct wavering voice in a live performance of new track “Walking Backwards.” Having encountered an age-old Tibetan folk-opera tradition during a backpacking trip, the singer distilled its influence into her recent EP Ink on the Walls. “Making the record in Manhattan would have been a nine-to-five experience,” explains Paoro, who was captured for the latest episode of Sunrise, Sunset by NOWNESS regulars Yours Truly after making waves in this year's festival circuit. “I guess there is no set time when inspiration strikes; it might happen at 2pm or 3am.”

Ink on the Walls is available now on Middle West. - Nowness


"LET DOE PAORO'S VIDEO FOR "WALKING BACKWARDS" BEWITCH YOU"

I'm a big fan of artists who are able to transport you to another world. I want a musician to make me forget about overdue expense reports and the dishes in the sink. I want music and its accompanying visuals to abracadabra away the drunk idiots on my stoop. Make them dissolve to nothing!

Brooklyn-based singer Doe Paoro understands this and she's been serving up music/video combos capable of vamoosing you to an alternate dimension for several years now. I first became aware of her thanks to this 2012 video for the twisted bluesy-R&B track "Born Whole," in which the singer blindly gropes her way through life via a dirty rope. And last year Team Noisey was similarly captivated by her video for "New Lows."

Above is the premiere for Paoro's latest video for new song "Walking Backwards." Here she combines parsed back electronics—which build to a cathartic climax—and soul-steeped R&B. In some ways it's her most traditional vocal performance to date. Meanwhile the largely monochrome visuals find Paoro standing stoic among swirling wraiths.

She weaves her spells so well.

Doe Paoro's newly released EP, Ink on the Walls, is out now. - Noisey by VICE


"Listen: Doe Paoro’s intriguing new song “Walking Backwards”"

In the time since I fell for Doe Paoro’s 2012 debut, Slow To Love, the pool of female singer-songwriters reinventing neo-R&B has gotten a tad crowded. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy those artists who’ve popped up — Banks, FKA Twigs, Clare Maguire, and others like them are titillating in their own way — but I’ve been somewhat anxiously waiting for Doe, born Sonia Kreitzer, to properly resurface. And, thankfully, it looks like she finally will, with her new Ink On The Walls EP, due out next month via Middle West.

The EP was co-produced by BJ Burton and Bon Iver associate Sean Carey (who knows a thing or two about conjuring alluring ambiances), and is said to feature Justin Vernon himself. “Walking Backwards” marks our first taste of the release and, to my delight, is an absorbing, soulful cut complete with an emphatic, so Bon Iver brassy outro. Take a listen below. - Consequence of Sound


"Fresh Faces: Doe Paoro"

They say that inspiration comes when you least expect it, or, as in Sonia Kreitzer’s case, when you’ve given up completely. “I’d been in a band in New York for three years, and it wasn’t really going anywhere,” says the artist, who performs under the moniker Doe Paoro. “I decided to end my relationship with music, at least as a professional pursuit, and went to India to come to terms with that and get some space and practice for my yoga license.” But the powers that be had other plans. Sonia spent several months in India, practicing yoga and periods of silent meditation, and training with a Tibetan opera singer, and inadvertently tapped into a deep well of creativity. “I feel like I met my voice for the first time, even though I’d been singing for so long,” she says. “I was really connecting with my own footprint, and it wasn’t intentionally trying to be something new or different—it just was.”

The surge of energy she’d felt in India remained when she returned to New York and she began work on Doe Paoro. “Artists always talk about these periods of inspiration where they’re constantly creating, and I never really understood that,” she says. “But after India I totally knew what that meant—I’d be on the subway and I just couldn’t write fast enough.” She completed her first album, Slow to Love, within six months—a deeply reflective collection of songs that are sublimely soulful, anchored by her powerful, emotive voice.

But for her second effort, Ink on the Walls, out now, Sonia took her time, working on the album for nearly two years. “There is a lot of growth sonically,” she says of her sound, helped in part by the production prowess of BJ Burton and S. Carey, best known as the drummer for Bon Iver. She spent the fall recording at Bon Iver’s Wisconsin studio—“We were able to just lose sense of time, taking that space was so crucial to making something that felt really good, it was so magical,” she says of the experience. In listening to the four track EP, her growth as an artist is apparent—the music is fuller and clearer, but maintains the raw energy and soul that makes her so compelling as a performer and a person. - Milk Made


"Stream: Doe Paoro, "Walking Backwards""

Here's a new one from Brooklyn-based, genre-melding pop singer Sonia Kreitzer, who makes music as Doe Paoro. The production on "Walking Backwards" is emotive, but it never overwhelms Paoro's flexible, soul-inflected vocals. I can't find no eyes to lock with mine, she sings, disillusioned, on the track's widescreen chorus. "Walking Backwards" is off her upcoming Ink On The Walls EP, which was produced by Bon Iver drummer Sean Carey and Volcano Choir engineer BJ Burton, features Justin Vernon, and was recorded early in the winter at a scenic Wisconsin studio; it's out in April on Middle West. - The FADER


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Brooklyn-based artist Doe Paoro describes her music as “"Ghost Soul," characterized by a dolorous, ethereal sound that evokes the resurrection of "a choir of ghosts who haven’t completely detached from the human experience.”

Echoes of attachment and detachment permeate her debut album, "Slow to Love." The tracks' haunting vocals were strongly influenced by her in-depth study of Lhamo—, a powerful, unusual and vocally acrobatic Tibetan-style opera—that she encountered while traveling alone through the Himalayas in 2011. During this period, Paoro also spent several weeks practicing silent meditation. The high-contrast nature of her music is directly influenced by these experiences, which forced her to reflect on the deep and expansive space between silence and sound.

Upon returning to the U.S., Paoro sketched out "Slow to Love" while in her hometown of Syracuse New York.  The album came out in 2012. She released an EP, "Ink on the Walls" in 2014, produced by Sean Carey and BJ Burton, and is currently working on her second full-length album.

Paoro has been compared to D'Angelo, Lykke Li and James Blake, but her haunting vocals and spacious arrangements are singular, realized in a state of sorrow without bitterness, passion without pretense.

Doe Paoro has shared the stage with Angel Olsen, Phophorescent, Of Monsters and Men, KOOL A.D., First Aid Kit, Peter Moren, Elle King, Cold Specks, Eleanor Friedberger, Japanther among others. She has been featured on Fuse TV and Daytrotter and has been a showcasing artist at SXSW, CMJ and the Osheaga Festival in Montreal.

Band Members