SLCene Suggests: Orenda Fink at Kilby Court

ORENDA FINK, KILBY COURT, Friday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., $8

Songstress Orenda Fink has always had a knack for exploring some of the darker corners of the human mind and ethereal realms of spirituality in her music, even when crafting highly listenable pop-rock full of atmospheric flourishes and plenty of hooks. Such was the case during her years as half of Azure Ray, and continuing into her solo career. Her latest release, Blue Dream, takes a look at death from all possible angles, the result of a year-long meditation on the subject inspired by the death of her own 16-year-old dog. Life, death, the afterlife, the tricky line between the conscious and subconscious, all of her musing proved productive when it came time to record her new songs, which sound a bit like Kate Bush at times. That is not a bad thing at all. Modern Kin, Big Wild Things and Henry Wade are also on the bill for her Salt Lake City show.