Snow Ghosts : "the Fell"

This album came out back in February and I kept forgetting to review it. This is a trio out of Bath, UK. They sonically fall somewhere between post-rock and neo-folk. There is a dark brooding beauty to the hypnotic hook of their songs. "Filaments" has the tension of a building storm that counter balances the more delicate plea of the vocals. Hannah Cartwright does have a powerful and unique voice, that is the emotional heartbeat of these songs. There is more of an electronic haze cast over the more surreal "Curse". This band's fourth album and they are clearly masters of richly textured songs.  

Thematically they delve deep into folklore and metaphor. Using an odd blend of old folk instruments as well as synths to create a Dead Can Dance like blend of old and new , but with almost pop tinged melodies to fuel these surreal ballads. "Hawthorn"  carries a more mysterious ambiance to it's twilight musings. 'Avine" is more of a minimalist folk song. It sounds like something you might singe to a ghost out on the Moor. While Hannah's melodies are raw and more folk influenced, the synth atmosphere becomes more of a dominant factor on songs like "Prophecies".  This album is really well produced in how it blends the two worlds. 

That blends is felt stylistically on "Home" . The beat provides the type of drive they need to keep things interesting and support her floating voice.  "Magpie" is another lapse into haunting folk. It's good to hear her voice bare like this as the ambiance subtly creeps up. "{Vixen" opens with more of a drone to the music summoned under her verses. The ambiance sounds nice, but the song hovers in the same place for the bulk of it's six and a half minutes. I find the melody of "Taken" closes the album with a more purposeful and heartfelt melody that compensates for the drone of the synths under it. Lyrically it's about the death of a young person, and that can be felt in how the music expresses this theme. I will give this album a 9.5, it is beautifully crafted in both music and concept. 

Swans : "the Beggar"

 

In a world where kids are listening to pop acts with 20 songwriters and even more producers, there is something refreshing about Michael Gira, as the sole producer and songwriter of Swans new album. It starts off with a darker tone that is also a welcome return for the band who had gotten kinda jammy on previous albums and more into the droning math of grooves than the sonic heaviness of the post-punk they rose to cult status from before their hiatus. The jammy drone is still present on "Paradise is Mine' which was the lead single from this album. Though balanced by a more sardonic mood. There are also hints of industrial lurking in the song. They gain momentum on "Los Angeles : City of Death". I am glad this  stark bleakness has returned to the lyrics, which bleeds over into the over all tone of the song. 

Gira is joined in the studio by the same band he has been touring with for the past decade.  Things go in a sing song lyrical direction and ambiance on "Michael is Done".  Gira's rich baritone ponders change on "Unforming". It is more like atmospheric folk, which is a more delicate side of the band's sound that the full volume assaults that are more typical of their live performances. The ten-minute title track finds the band converging back onto what I think of as their classic sound. It's a dark brooding groove that give Gira plenty of room to ponder more esoteric inner musings. There is also the tension that I think is a key quality of post-punk. 

"No More of This " reverts back to the more delicate introspective feel that is more the norm for this album. This time it holds a subtle country influence. There is still a very spacious post- rock feel . It is evident that the writing process was more centered on Michael and an acoustic guitar. This is resulting in a mellower overall feel to this album.  "Ebbing" finds the strum of guitar holding the core of the song. This kind of folk gets taking on a psychedelic drone is that hits you with the kind of powerful dynamics that the band is known for.  While these are the moments I want more of from them, I try not to take the fact that I am getting them for granted. "What Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want".  Lyrics the most relevant song  might be the biting commentary of this one, that sums up American society well. 

Then we move onto the second disc. "The Beggar Lover" is back on their brand of weird with a wall of ambient noise swelling up to break down into a female spoken word section. A great deal of the noises here remind me of a DMT trip. It does turn into an actual song 18 minutes in that is pretty cool with a gloomy post-punk feel, but the problem is this is a 43 minute song, there is no reason to have a song that is long as an entire album. There is too much fat that could have been trimmed and they could have gotten two really cool songs out this. After this is the Memorious" which has more swing to it's drone than what you normally expect from these guys. You can tell there is a Doors influence based on the poetic turn of the vocals. There is almost a two toke minimum to get the full grasp of what they are doing here. I am glad they have moved back to darker shades of weird. I will give this a 9.5, mainly due to the 43 minute song that should not be.  

Emily Jane White : "Alluvion

Timing is everything.   White could not have picked a better time to release a song called "Show Me the War". Though it is not referring to war in the context the rest of the world is focused on at present. There is a dark tension to it.  The sonics of the song itself is a pulse of intense atmosphere that is coupled with a floating ethereal melody. At first the undercurrent of darkness here might remind you of Chelsea Wolfe, but the overall vibe of the album has more in common with Marissa Nadler. There is a brighter side to the second song. If flows almost more like pop. Though there is a 90s rock drive to it. "Hersey" features guest vocals from Darkher. This leads to a deeply more layer chorus of voices to bring the ambiance. 

Rather than a loud to soft shift in dynamics, this about seems to be more about light to dark. If we are going to be honest "Poisoned" is a country song. That is fine with me it is more Texas than Nashville. Then there is a more fragile atmosphere to "Body Against the Gun". In contrast to the previous song, where it feels we are back to that light to darkness shift despite the space age tension that builds on this song. "the Hands Above Me" flows better and is more interesting as a song. The lyrics stick with you more is the way the emotionally connect with the melody. There is a more synth wave like pulse that runs through "Mute Swan" another song that carries more drama to it. 

"Hold Them Alive" is stripped down to a piano accompaniment.  The ghost hovers in a simpler place. If you get stoned enough I am sure it sounds like the piano part from "Hollow Hearth" is carried over from the previous song. It is a bigger more dramatic song. Things settle into more solid songwriting with the more memorable "I Spent Years Frozen" . "Battle Call" settles back into it's atmosphere going into a darker simmer. I will give this one a 9.5, as it's impressive, requiring me to give it a few listens before it really sunk in. Like folk music meets post-rock. It is hard to say what will catch on but I think this is a timely release that kids today could latch onto as their soundtrack to a kinder gentler apocalypse.