Lia Ices, one of our favorite NYC chanteuses (featured on the cover of the 25th issue of The Deli in 2011) is finally back with her long awaited sophomore album, and, well... it sounds nothing like the debut one that grabbed our tortured hearts. But change and experimentation are necessary in music, and in this record - entitled simply "ICES" - Lia abandons the spare, deeply intense ballad format that characterized her early career in favor of more lighthearted, lo(wer)-fi pop tunes that embrace many world influences, Caribbean ones in particular - we are thinking more about Calipso than reggae. The vacation related imagery in this new video for single "Higher" confirm how "ICES" can be filed under the 'beach pop album' category. Since it's dropping at the end of the summer, it might help us extend the perception of the warm season through sound induced nostalgia, or maybe even make us dream of that trip through exotic lands we never took. Don't miss her live tomorrow (09.17) at The Mercury Lounge.

In 2010 Lia Ices put a spell on us with her gorgeous sophomore album 'Grown Unknown,' which earned her the cover of the Winter 2011 issue of The Deli. Admittedly we found ourselves wondering when we would hear from Lia again (the only release after that album was a split single featuring a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Wer Here"). Well, the wait is over: Jagjaguwar has just announced the September release of a new full length entitled 'ICES', and made available single "Thousand Eyes" (streaming), which shows us a breezier, slightly more uptempo, and also a little more lo-fi approach. As usual Lia's magnetic vocals carve ethereal melodies that will intrigue fans of Enya or Cocteau Twins. No mentions of live performances as of now.

You should all know by now how partial we are (I am) to Lia Ices and her wonderful dreamy sonic mellowness - the lady graced the cover of our latest, winter issue. Lia just released this DIY video for the song "Love is Won", shot on Super 8 Film in Rome (hey that's where I was born!). Understandably, most of the video is about Lia eating awesome Italian food. The video was directed by Christin Turner in collaboration with Lia. She will play at the Mercury Lounge in NYC tonight, in the UK this month and on the west coast in December with The Sea and Cake. Check also out Lia's tour diary from Lollapalooza here.

You should know by now that we like Lia Ices - she graced the cover of our issue 25 of The Deli NYC (issue 26 out tomorrow by the way!). We heard through Facebook that she just released this lo-fi kinda weird video for the song "Grown Unknown". We dig.

Here at The Deli we take winter seriously. Our frostiest cover ever graces our 25th NYC issue (check it out in pdf version here), which was coincidentally delivered yesterday throughout a frosty Big Apple, covered in snow. Psych Folk songstress Lia Ices - who is celebrating her CD release party at Joe's Pub on February 1st - and the gorgeous foggy picture shot by Kate Edwards add two extra wintry elements to the package. In this issue you will also find features about NYC Indie Labels, Delicate Steve, Appmoattox, and - of course - a slew of Q&As and reviews. Enjoy!

Tonight's show at Joe's Pub, sponsored by BMI, is also our 25th issue's launch party, hope to see you there at 9.30 on the dot!

The Deli's Staff