Living Thing, the newest full length album from Oregon based songwriter Anna Tivel, is an arcing dive into the existential. Written through the tumultuous eyes of 2020 and recorded in Eau Claire, WI in profound collaboration with long time friend and producer Shane Leonard, these are songs of struggle and aliveness expressed with great joy. “I wrote feverishly in the strange chaos of that year, suddenly out of work and attempting to understand the shifting human fabric, the depth of desperation and the overwhelming tenacity of spirit. The resulting songs felt rhythmic and vital, with more melody and soaring chorus than I’ve explored in the past. There was no way and no means to gather a full band, and I brought the songs to Shane’s doorstep knowing and fully trusting the skill and exuberance of his creative imagination. Shane stripped everything down to the studs and we rebuilt it together, just the two of us for a month in his garage studio. Tivel is a writer drawn to seminal questions, and this album is no exception. She illuminates the seeking rather than clinging to conviction. What is it that makes us human? What are we for? How do we move as we reach toward each other, change our minds, learn to love? The nine songs that make up ‘Living Thing’ look deep into the core and do so with groove and energy. Shane brought a dynamic vigor to the table, drawing the tender lyrical thoughts into a more potent sound world.