PREMIERE | I Am Snow Angel, "Tower of Song"

At home with I Am Snow Angel’s Julie Kathryn; photographed by Julia Drummond.

During these times of solitude, artists and appreciative audiences alike have been thumbing through the archives of reflective and understated balladry. Reviving a lesser sung classic ⁠— I Am Snow Angel presents a debut listen to her cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song”. The alias of NYC artist/producer/sound-designer/et al. Julie Kathryn, the hymns of modern era troubadours are updated with subtle atmospheres of isolated echoes in a sparse arrangement that evokes the organic ritual of intimate lullabies sung from a room.

I Am Snow Angel lends a reverent and a subtle supernatural quality to the song’s source material. A meta-ballad about the fate and penance of the troubadour, “Tower of Song” dives deep into the recesses of the songwriter’s heart, psyche and soul. Kathryn approaches a song about the imaginative sky-scraping ziggurats that house the history of tunesmiths of our time (and all time) with an aura of awe, heart-wrought emotion and wonder. At its core the song is about artists paying tribute to the artists before them, while reflecting on their place in those canons and eco systems of influence and existence. I Am Snow Angel partakes in the song’s established tradition with a salute to the charged pop prose left behind by the departed original author. “Tower of Song” delves into the praxes and processes of life, creativity and influence amid the ever-moving kinesis at work with the passing time. Cohen’s poetics about the intricate relationship between the artists and their works is arranged into a mystic, ritual pop glow; like a pagan revival of discovery, reckoning and renewal. Julie delivers these now immortal stanzas in a sincere and psychic sensuality that invites the audience into a manifested dream world built around the conversation between the artist, their craft and everything else in between.

[Click the image below to experience I Am Snow Angel’s “Tower of Song”]

Julie Kathryn of I Am Snow Angel shared some notes on the adaptation process:

"Tower of Song" was written and originally recorded by one of my favorite songwriters, the genius Leonard Cohen. This song is about artistry and songwriting. It's also about isolation and inequality. It has given me moments of peace and emotional release during this heavy time, and I hope others are finding music that does the same for them. When I recorded this, I played a telecaster guitar and used reversed samples of my own vocals to create the soundscape.

I Am Snow Angel’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song” will be available May 1 via Spotify and everywhere.

Six string meditations with I Am Star Angel; photographed by Julia Drummond.