Seattle’s Alex Guy is a total viola/violin whiz who has graciously lent her string chops to big shots like Amanda Palmer, Xiu Xiu, Laura Veirs, Mirah and Parenthetical Girls. But in Led to Sea, Guy’s solo project, she gets a chance to shine all by her lonesome, putting her classically trained background to use to craft beautiful baroque-pop, all buoyed by her evocative voice.

The beautiful humming of ms. fortune, Guy’s third album as Led to Sea, is the result of a two-year collaboration with engineer and co-producer Jherek Bischoff (David Byrne, Amanda Palmer), a fellow classically trained pop-crossover from the Pacific Northwest. Their combined compositional skills add rich depth to the album’s vivid storytelling, exemplified in “Facing South,” a menacing nautical tale about a ship sailing further and further into an unforgiving sea. Guy uses the viola (the album’s spotlight instrument) to conjure up ocean tempests and plucky waves, backed by jazzy crashing drums that mimic the hull of a ship being tossed about by a storm. Take a listen to the sultry, salty track above.

You can listen to The beautiful humming of ms. fortune when it comes out May 5th.