Song of the Day | “Sun Without Heat” by Leyla McCalla

David Byrne once said, “The better a singer’s voice, the harder it is to believe what they are saying.” Byrne’s decidedly-art-rock logic aside, it could also be argued that the more instruments accompanying the singer, the harder it is to believe what they are saying.

Either way, on her new full length, Sun Without Heat, the classical and American-roots musician Leyla McCalla performs mostly unadorned, often heart-rending folk and jazz numbers. McCalla is an excellent singer and a renowned musician (she played cello in the popular American-roots group Carolina Chocolate Drops). And on the record’s title track, McCalla sounds utterly unimpeachable. 

All songs featured in our Song of the Day series can be found on our Fresh Squeeze Playlist and in rotation on our music discovery radio station, The Independent.