Mia Doi Todd

Cosmic Ocean Ship
City Zen Records/Virtual Label
Photos by Carl Lindstrom

www.miadoitodd.com

01. Paraty
02. My Baby Lives In Paris
03. Under The Sun
04. Skipping Stones
05. Summer Lover
06. La Havana
07. Canto De Lemanjá
08. The Rising Tide
09. All My City
10. Gracias A La Vida

This album is dedicated to Fumiye Doi.

Order the LP, CD or Digital HERE

Mia Doi Todd is a very special gift to modern music. Her vocals are as soft as fresh peaches and berries, something your mind absorbs like that of the crescent full moon over a large body of water. Lush landscapes of heightened color schemes that create unfolding patterns, she takes all of her vocal and musical training from her youth and really dives into something special on all of her releases. Mia Doi Todd has always created music where her experiences with humanity and nature are deeply encapsulated inside of the finished recording. Stories bloom like the seasonal cycles of the lands she visits and the personalities of those around her. Mia Doi Todd has been releasing music since 1997 and has given the world her 9th full length album this year, Cosmic Ocean Ship.

Cosmic Ocean Ship from Mia Doi Todd flourishes like the smell and sensation of recent rain. Picture a scenery of clouds dancing across the sky with shimmering rays of the falling sun as it shades the color of deep purple, red and orange color collages over the horizon. Lush fields of flowers and the joy of feeling the sun soak into your body is the type of emotional response you can expect from her new album. Gal Costa, Flora Purim, Mercedes Sosa, Edith Piaf and so many other powerful female vocalists come to mind when I hear Cosmic Ocean Ship. Her past records have seen various configurations of backing instrumentalist. From duo acoustic and vocal recordings to lush orchestration from Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, each album has its own distinct personality. There is a proportional amount of emotion on every record though, a fulfilment of the sacred nature of communicating raw energy through sound.

Cosmic Ocean Ship was created with a very important purpose. This purpose is one of beauty and a softening of the mind and soul. Society has created a world of imbalance when dealing with how we respect and love our environments and this album brings light to this dark aspect of this world. The album was tracked in four days and is a lush ride of sonic invocation and euphoria. It should also be noted that this album was recording using analog gear and the final results are as milky and warm as you would expect an album with this type to sound when done with tape. Mia Doi Todd wrote all of the lyrics besides the two covers of “Canto De Lemanjá” (written by Baden Powell and Vinícius De Moraes) and Gracias A La Vida (written by Violeta Parra). She contributes guitar, cavaquinho, ukulele, tambura and percussion. The more you listen to this album in depth and with attention given to detail, the more the mystical and magical state of this albums love and beauty becomes clearer and brighter.

The group she picked for this recording consists of Gabe Noel (Stan-Up Bass, Electric Bass and Cello), Jonathan Wilson (Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Piano, Organ, Mellotron, Drums and Percussion), Andreas Renteria (Congas, Cajón, Pandeiro, Triangle, Shakers, Drums, Vocals and Tantan) and Adam MacDougall (Piano and Organ). This album resonates with the pulse of the world, a ride that shows how personal of a window Mia Doi Todd is giving the world. By the time I got to the 4th track, “Skipping Stones”, I already realized how special this album is and will be for the rest of my life. Mia Doi Todd is a part of a select group of musicians in this world who are making music that is truly timeless. Cosmic Ocean Ship is a series of fluctuating emotional reflections of an on going search for all the realities that love brings into our lives and for this reason is why I feel it will be timeless.

Cosmic Ocean Ship is being released on the label Mia Doi Todd started in early 2000′s, City Zen Records in vinyl, cd and digital formats. Mia Doi Todd designed and completed the artwork for this release. Recorded on 2 inch tape at Five Star Studios, Los Angeles, this album is an unoforgettable ride for those who are into the elegant and soft beauty of a creative being unlike any other. Mia Doi Todd is one of the most powerful voices in modern music and it makes us very proud to present this article on her latest album, Cosmic Ocean Ship. ~ Erik Otis

From Mia Doi Todd’s official page:

Prolific singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California, Mia Doi Todd returns with her 9th album, Cosmic Ocean Ship, produced by Jonathan Wilson. Recorded in Los Angeles to analog 2 inch tape, the album has a warmth and depth that showcases Mia’s beautiful, powerful, unique, and at times delicate voice. It is being released on City Zen Records/Virtual Label this Spring.

Inspired by interstellar journeys, reflective encounters with friends, and explorations of forest, beach, jungle, desert, and city in Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, France, and India, Mia searched deep within to communicate a new perspective for Cosmic Ocean Ship – one that transports the listener into the ecstatic radiance of intimate Love, and one that is yearning with an overall optimistic vision for the future of Planet Earth and the human experience. In reaction against the political, economic, and environmental upheaval and devastation of the last decade, Mia felt compelled as an artist to take a stand and create something for our time that focuses on beauty, joy, light, and Love: “Like all my songs, these are very earnest and personal, but I hope they are universal as well and can reach people’s hearts and turn them on! Modern life demands a lot of the human mind and body; we become desensitized and hardened. The songs on Cosmic Ocean Ship offer a chance for a softening, a heart opening. They are joyful!”

The whole record was tracked in just over 4 days, with Gabe Noel on bass, Andres Renteria on percussion, Adam MacDougall on keys and Jonathan Wilson both engineering and rotating on various instruments. Most of the songs were recorded live with the band all playing together and Mia playing and singing in the same room. Listening to Cosmic Ocean Ship, one hears the sweet nuanced relationship between the room, the tubes, the weathered circuitry, and the collective energy in the sessions. There’s a real magic captured on tape here.

In addition to the original compositions that make up the majority of Cosmic Ocean Ship, Mia covers the classic lament “Gracias a la Vida” written by Chilean Folk artist Violeta Parra in 1966, and “Canto de Iemanjá,” the Afro Samba tribute to the great Orisha of the Ocean, by Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes.

Cosmic Ocean Ship is exactly the kind of music the world needs right now! Honest, vulnerable, imaginative, courageous, and full of color and dimension.