Together, the angelic-voiced duo of Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink released three albums under the name Azure Ray. Since they broke up in 2004, both of them went solo. Maria gave us Lynn Teeter Flower earlier this year and 11:11 in 2005. Orenda put out Invisible Ones in 2005, as well. Now Orenda’s back, but this time she’s got a new band.

Art in Manila features former and current members of Saddle Creek Records artists including Bright Eyes, The Good Life, Mayday, Neva Dinova and, of course, Azure Ray. They will release their debut album, Set the Woods on Fire, August 7th on Saddle Creek Records, an album recorded in the label’s home base, Omaha, Nebraska. Orenda says the writing was informed by the possibilities of working with a live band again and plays to the strengths of her bandmembers. According to Saddle Creek, the new material “travels the lush path set forth by her previous work” but is “subsumed with edge and backbone.”

I found Orenda’s Invisible Ones to be the edgier of the Azure Ray ladies’ solo debuts. And earlier this year, Maria, added some rock punch to her second album, a satisfying improvement for my taste. I eagerly await the new band direction for Orenda with Art in Manila. There’s a lot of potential, and the title track shows they’re off to a promising start:

Download/Stream “Set the Woods on Fire” MP3