Sound & Vision with Adeline Hotel

New Yorker, Dan Knishkowy, the songwriter and frontman of Adeline Hotel, had no idea what kind of world his exceptional new Adeline Hotel LP, Solid Love, would come out into, but in so many ways his brand of soft rock could not be any more perfect.

 And if you need convincing anymore, latest single, Strange Sometimes, is the ideal preparation for the album, which is out on 8th May through Whatever’s Clever. Plus, with such cool influences – as Dan discusses with us below – it’s no wonder he’s such an exciting songwriter.

There are Dan Knishkowy’s Sound & Vision picks:

Three records I love:

Songs: Ohia – The Magnolia Electric Co.

It’s impossible to convey the power this record had over me for a couple of years. That opening four song run! The lap steel line in Just Be Simple, the cover art by Will Schaff, the way Scout Niblett sings ‘two old friends in the night’… it’s all just perfect. He was really living that lyric, ‘swing the heaviest hammer you’ve got, hit this one out of the park’ – a songwriter at the top of his game, with his friends live in a room, finding lightning in a bottle.

Arthur Russell – Love is Overtaking Me 

A constant companion – I don’t think there’s another album that sounds the way this one does. Sweetly innocent, funny and sad, every song has a line or melody that will one day sneak up on you out of nowhere and remain lodged in your brain for a month. I don’t think there’s another song that makes me feel the way What It’s Like does. Perfect for early spring mornings with the window open. It’s impossible not to love this record.

Karen Dalton – 1966

Katie Cruel is one of my all time favorite songs – my dad taught me to play that on guitar many years ago, from a Bert Jansch live album, but I love the way Karen does it on banjo. I’m already second guessing not picking In My Own Time, but I maybe slightly prefer the way she does Katie Cruel on this album, plus lately I have been obsessed with the song While You’re On Your Way, so 1966 it is!

A book I adore –

Jayson Greene – Once More We Saw Stars

I bought this book the day it came out last year and finished it in one day. Describing it won’t do it justice, but it follows the author and his wife as they make sense of what life might look like after their daughter is killed in a freak accident. We lost our friend and bandmate last year, about a month after I finished the book – I don’t think I’ll want to read it again anytime soon, but someday when I’m ready, I’m glad to know it will be there.

One Film That I Love –

Department Q film series 

Three of us in the band are total freaks for Scandinavian crime shows. My favourites are probably The Bridge or recently Trapped, but since the question is about films – Winston (who plays keys in AH) is our resident Nordic Noir expert and just recommended the Department Q film series. I’ve been tearing through it this week, along with Wisting and The Valhalla Murders.

A song that’s important –

Julia Holter – I Shall Love 2

Despite the obvious sentimentality of my record, I’m actually pretty cynical about leaning too much into a message of ‘spreading love’ in response to political & societal upheaval – I’m a little wary of it easing the burden of responsibility and taking the place of substantive action (I tackle that a bit on my record, ‘all this privileged love isn’t enough’). That being said, especially now, when we’re desperate just to see a friend, hug them and laugh, what could be more important than blasting this song and shouting ‘I shall love’ over and over and over?

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