Nightblooms is the project of Karla Manzur. You may know Manzur as the keys player and backup vocalist for Dana Falconberry, or you may have recognized her lending her incredible talents to Alejandro Escovedo’s live set. You can hear her transcendent voice on Abram Shook‘s recent album Sun Marquee. If you aren’t getting the picture, we’re telling you that Manzur is one of Austin’s most devoted and talented musicians. And the time has come to celebrate the release of her own project Nightblooms’ first album. Not only does the project deserve your attention for its musical merits, ethereal pop songs that float by like mystery lights flickering along a midnight highway, but also for the incredible format in which the songs will be presented.
Tomorrow night at The Museum of Human Achievement, Nightblooms will perform inside a giant inflatable planetarium and will be backed by a 16 piece choir including Abram Shook, Lindsey Verrill, Dana Falconberry, Jazz Mills, Grace Park, Gina Dvorak, Paul Banks, Sam Chown, and others. Incredible doesn’t really begin to cover it. We’re expecting the night be transport us to the next plane of spiritual existence. Don’t worry, we’ll let you know how it goes. What’s more is that the theme corresponds to the album’s title Star-Taker, a direct translation for astrolabe, an ancient astronomical and navigation device. The albums comes in… get this… an actual working astrolabe (pictured right). We’re pretty enamored with the whole project. Here’s a track from Nightblooms’ Star-Taker, which you can order now here.
