Elexa Dawson and Stanley Hotel Unveil Ethereal Musical Journey in ‘Answer’

Elexa Dawson enthusiastically introduces “Answer,” the second pre-release single from the upcoming album “Wanderlust,” scheduled for release on February 2, 2024. Dawson vividly conveys the song’s inception as a channeled message, starting with a simple musical arrangement that evolves into a fully-fledged folk-rock encounter.

As hands clap in unison, the combination of guitar, piano, and mandolin weaves a melody that poses introspective questions like “What can I answer? What can I do?” The lyrics take a poignant turn with an ancestral response affirming connection: “You are a part, a part of me.” The drums usher in a transformative phase, culminating in an anthem. The invitation to “come to the water, come now and drink” marks the beginning of a metamorphic journey.

The song reaches its crescendo with a cosmic shift, promising to “change the color, change the light.” Ethereal guitar accompaniment emphasizes the shared essence of life within and between individuals. The refrain “Here is your answer, meet me at the stream” releases the musical flow, carrying the listener through celestial landscapes and back to solid ground, guided by weightless vocals cracking open unsuspecting hearts.

Throughout her musical career, Elexa Dawson has been a beacon for community-focused music in her natural style blending sultry soul with rural roots. Hailing from her Potawatomi and Cherokee country home in Oklahoma and now residing in the Kansas Flint Hills, Dawson’s storytelling prowess shines through her solo album “Music is Medicine” as well as her foundational work with the ensemble Weda Skirts and the 7-piece bluegrass-adjacent joyride, Heyleon.

On the other side of this musical collaboration, Stanley Hotel, an indie rock outfit based in Oklahoma, embraces fluidity in their studio methods, delivering a fully formed yet mindful listening experience. Band members Adam Stanley, Isaac Nelson, and Doug Swindell, known for welcoming the unconventional, showcase their diverse musical range in core releases like “The Moose,” “The Wolf Told Me,” and “Samson Mammoth,” as well as side-projects such as Magna Contra and Repairman Noize.

Together, Elexa Dawson and Stanley Hotel present a musical journey in “Answer” that draws from intuition and experience, inviting listeners to connect with the profound and the celestial.

lexa Dawson gives audiences something to cry about. Her hopeful messages cut through the mundane without sidestepping pain. Deeply connected to land, her songs speak of the earth and community, and celebrate all relationships, from mother and child to friend and lover.

In late 2019, Music is Medicine introduced Elexa as a solo artist, after being long recognized as lead songwriter for Weda Skirts, aka The Skirts. Her startup label, Turns Out Records also publishes the works of Heyleon, a trans-apocalyptic pagan bluegrass gospel group with roots in Kansas and New Mexico.

Now Wanderlust, a mindfully brilliant collaborative album with Oklahoma-based Stanley Hotel, approaches to be released on February 2, 2024. Singles “Sweet Sisters” (an anthem for earth lovers) and “Answer” (ancestrally channeled folk rock) showcase the range of texture and mood promised by this alchemic collection.