Serena Jost is a Swiss-American singer/songwriter and cellist living in New York City. Her new record, Closer Than Far, was produced by Brad Albetta (Martha Wainwright, Teddy Thompson) and mixed by Brad Albetta and Brian Fulk at Monkeyboy Studios in NYC. This stunning debut features Serena singing and playing guitar, cello and piano. Some of NYC’s tastiest musicians help to bring these remarkable songs to life, which “seamlessly merge classical and pop melodies”. (Lucidculture) ***SIGNED COPIES OF CD ALSO AVAILABLE*** Time Out New York / Issue 667 : Jul 10–16, 2008, Top live shows Serena Jost, Barbès; Thu 10 "Serena Jost writes gently eccentric songs and sings them in an elegant alto, often accompanying herself on cello, but it isn’t quite right to call her a singer-songwriter. The term art song—normally tied to 19th-century concert music—usefully characterizes Jost’s carefully arranged pieces and succinct lyrics, neither quite rock nor folk. If this sounds a bit highbrow, fear not. One of the highlights of both Jost’s live show and her recently released CD, Closer than Far, is a straightforward, almost rollicking take on Iris DeMent’s bittersweet “Our Town.” Several of her own catchiest vocal hooks (such as on “Vertical World” and “Halfway There”) basically consist of one note, relying on the instrumental chord changes underneath to give them momentum. The slightly old-world, cabaret quality of Jost’s music should be underscored by the intimately curtained back room at Park Slope’s Barbès." — Bob Bannister, Time Out New York "A few years back Serena Jost was a member of the modern progressive cello trio Rasputina. We hesitated to even mention this fact, however, because Jost's own music comes from an almost completely different universe. Whereas Rasputina incorporated elements of industrial rock and chamber/classical music, Closer Than Far presents subtle and intriguing modern progressive pop. But instead of writing and recording modern pop that sounds like every other twenty-first pop artist on the planet, Serena instead presents tunes that have much more in common with some of the more artsy British bands from the late 1970s. Pop fans seeking something immediately familiar and catchy may be somewhat confused by this album. Instead of writing easy pop, Serena composes rather complex and mature melodies that involve different elements from folk music and beyond... Recommended. (Rating: 5++)" - babysue.com "Serena Jost is the consummate poet, and it would be easy to imagine the gifted singer, cellist, and songwriter in the role of a fifteenth century troubadour...there are a number of incredible performances by all of the musicians who appear on this album, and Brad Albetta (Martha Wainwright), who co-produced this CD with Jost, has given us a balanced and beautifully engineered project." - www.rivetingriffs.com The amazing musicians who helped make this record: Julian Maile (Loser’s Lounge), producer Brad Albetta, and Colin Brooks (Dan Zanes), plus Greta Gertler, Bill Dobrow, Matt Johnson, Alice Bierhorst, Rima Fand, Todd Horton and Jim Brunberg. CLOSER THAN FAR WAS RELEASED ON MARCH 3rd, 2008 AT JOE'S PUB, NYC!!! Serena has performed at seminal NYC venues such as The Living Room, Barbes, Joe’s Pub, Tonic, Banjo Jim’s, Pete’s Candy Store, The Bowery Poetry Club, The Kitchen and St. Mark’s Church. She is an original member of Rasputina, the well-corseted cello group, has collaborated with numerous other artists including poet Dan Machlin, “Above Islands” (Immanent Audio), and has toured the United States and Europe extensively. Beautiful digipack: Photos by Wendy Whitesell and Design by Growing Studio.