The latest release from esoteric multi instrumentalists Evan Fraser and Vir McCoy takes the listener on a series of journeys through distant lands, the likes of which we are unlikely to experience ion the usual melee of music making.
The guys are lucky enough to be able to draw upon the assistance of friends over the course of the eleven tracks on Guardians and in particular the appearance of various vocalists adds to the heady brew. Rising Appalachia‘s Chloe Smith brings the sunny, mellow soul to “Fertile Ground”, with its refrain of “Cracks in your hand speak to the care of the land”. This lovely sentiment goes some way to explaining the feelings that exist in the pieces presented here and the care that the group takes in showcasing the more unusual musical options. A guitar appears in the distance, the only recognisable Western instrument, but abstracted to a point where it cries like birds high up in a clear, blue sky.
At other points, the feeling that we are sat around a campfire as the voices of Chloe and her sister Leah Smith, also from Rising Appalachia, wander in the twilight, finding their own union with one another as acoustic plucking accompanies them is inescapable. There is something removed about the musical experiences here that takes us outside normal expectations. There is throat singing from Sorian on “Rare Earth” which sounds as ancient as the old spiritual rites that it seems to be drawing from, and perhaps this sense of spirituality is what flows through the whole album, allied to subtle beats that update the sensations without overpowering them. The dusty vibe of an Eastern city, all back alleys and covered markets is all over “Hookah Dome” and here David Satori of Beats Antique adds bowed banjo, producing a slow, sinuous groove that moves at a seductive pace. It is as if they are borrowing the odd motif from Western tradition and then turning their backs and heading further into the unknown, waiting to see what befalls them, but secure in the knowledge that their embrace of these sounds will keep them safe and welcomed.I am reminded a little of Dead Can Dance in the vocalising of “The Condor“; it is that sense of statelessness, the unwillingness to be tied to an idea but to range all over the map and take whatever influence may appear, therefore producing something unique. As a listener, you feel like a distant traveller, the gentle embrace of cicadas on “Into The Forest” or the cool mountain stream of Leah’s voice on “Yes It’s You” coming from somewhere that owes nothing. With the soothing trickle of water on the final track “Shavasana Journey”, the feeling of devotional travel is at its strongest; the drone, the shimmering reverbed guitar, the lonely trail under a blanket of stars seems to remove all other human trace, just leaving you alone in wonderment.
Guardians is a beautiful and fulfilling journey, experiencing these unique soundscapes without having to leave your room.-Mr Olivetti-
