Exclusive Song Premiere: ‘Black and White Mountains,’ Snowblink

IMAGE COURTESY OF NORMAN WONG/JULIA SCHIFF

With lighthearted wistfulness, Canadian duo Snowblink’s latest single opens with Daniela Gesundheit’s almost inhumanly smooth voice musing about mountains colored like orcas, zebras, or pandas (hint: they’re all the same two colors mentioned in the song title).

“Black and White Mountains,” which we’re pleased to debut below, is the first single from the band’s upcoming second album, Inner Classics, which will be available via Arts & Crafts on September 11. The vaguely nostalgic, nature-themed number maintains the signature electro-folk sound established by the band’s first album, Long Live, pre-released by Snowblink in 2008 and officially released by Fire Records two years later.

While her bandmate’s vocals do pop in toward the end of the song, Gesundheit clearly knows she is the selling point. When the California-born singer/guitarist started Snowblink in 2004, she was the only consistent member in the five-person band—the other members were male backup vocalists who varied from city to city. Since she moved to Toronto in 2008, the band has evolved into a duo (Gesundheit shares duties with Dan Goldman of Luxury Pond), but her voice remains the centerpiece of every song. In “Black & White Mountains,” it’s almost otherworldly.

FOR MORE ON SNOWBLINK, VISIT THE BAND’S FACEBOOK PAGE.