Song Spotlight: The Album Leaf's Falling From The Sun (a night at Zebulon)

Over a decade ago, I got to see The Album Leaf play at the 2015 Culture Collide music festival. It was the final year of that festival that brought bands into Echo Park from across the globe. Bands from South America, Asia, and Europe would fly in and play a couple sets at different venues. And then sometimes, Culture Collide would play a little loose with the facts and say that so and so band was from Sweden even though they lived in Los Angeles. No matter, it was a fun festival. 

The Album Leaf at Zebulon

I happened to notice that The Album Leaf (moniker for Jimmy LaValle) was playing a late January set at Zebulon. I also saw that his PR firm was Nettwork Music. I had worked with Nettwork on a couple bands in 2025 and so I decided to see if they'd give me a press pass for the show. Lucky for me, they responded in the positive. You can read my US Rocker Music blog post here. 

The Album Leaf at Zebulon

Years had passed since I last saw the band, but I immediately noticed a similarity between the two sets. For both sets, the venue stage lights were dimmed. I will admit that their 2015 set was performed at the Echo Park United Methodist Church and they probably didn't have stage lights. On the other hand, Zebulon is known for keeping the dimmer switch turned down. I wasn't overly concerned about taking photos; however, because the band had their own set-up. Hanging from the curtains were icicle tube lights that changed the color palette of the stage from white to green to blue throughout the set. They also had their own stage lights that were positioned at strategic locations around the stage. 

The Album Leaf at Zebulon

As time ticked pass 10 p.m. (the time that Zebulon switches over to their Saturday night DJ party), LaValle mentioned that they were just going to have to push their set pass the requested stop time. The final song of the set happened to dig deep into his catalog of music, the 2010 "Falling From The Sun" from A Chorus of Storytellers album. It is my song spotlight. 

It was, I believe, only the third song of their set that included lyrics. In fact, it was a full 30 minutes before the band even spoke a word to the audience, "Thank you." I see it as a song about failing and yet succeeding. The chorus puts on the repeat the words:

The Album Leaf at Zebulon

Find out way to fall.

Do any of us really want to fall? Yet, maybe when we fall, we can dust ourselves off and grow closer to those around us.

And here we are
Locked together