Hometown Sounds

Cellist Janel Leppin conjures bleak beauty on “Ashes to Breathe”, the lead-off single from her recently released sophomore album American God under her solo moniker Mellow Diamond. Leppin is well-versed in sonic experimentation, but on this track only her breathy voice and looped cello in use for this delicate meditation. Director Dan Sharnoff’s video is appropriately shimmery and prismatic, subtly fading between clarity and haze.