Italian trio She’s Analog have an intriguing and atmospheric approach to instrumental improv. With No Longer, Not Yet, their second album, they attempt to create a space that is liminal, somewhere that movement and creation intersect with sound and it has to be said it is pretty successful.
It is a surreptitious but ominous start, with throbbing feedback and spare guitar tones interspersed with abstract percussion. the music sputters and quivers, but is burning with some pale fire that keeps it from descending into stasis. The air of tension is strong, with piano and percussion creating a loose tapestry that revels in ominous pauses.
The trickle of percussion has a light industrial feel, like you have stepped into a cycle workshop. The plangent guitar is the antithesis, turning the piece into something more structured and progressive; chimingly hypnotic, but unwilling to lull you into a false sense of security.
As the piece progresses, so it gradually unfurls into the sunlit distance until a guitar glow eventually embraces you. There is something really warming about the final moments that make the heart swell, regardless of its sparsity and is perhaps a perfect example of how less is definitely more.
With this album, She’s Analog seem to exploring those hidden spaces with results similar to the recent Caroline albums, but there is a special ingredient here that causes the album to slowly evolve with further listens. There is a previous album and it would be really interesting to see how their sound has progressed but for now, allow this to insinuate itself into those shadowy corners and shed the faintest of glows.-Mr Olivetti-
