ANNA & ELIZABETH - THE INVISIBLE COMES TO US
2018 - Smithsonian Folkways
This is the third album from Anna and Elizabeth and whilst the first two recordings were difficult to describe and near impossible to compare to any other modern day artist, this new album is even more difficult to describe and any comparisons with modern day or even ages old are now impossible. How so? Their roots are still in that deep, incredibly eerie and often spooky 'old time' music that was prevalent in the very early days of recording and undoubtedly before, but the experimentation that seemed to be around the edges of their music is now far more pronounced, having taken a hold in bringing a much more expansive, almost avant garde, feel to these songs but without ever losing that edgy old time atmosphere.
Some of the eleven ballads on 'The invisible comes to us' were written (or found) in the first half of the 20th century and some are ages old and traceable back to the British Isles of several centuries ago and probably beyond. Of those songs a good half of them were collected by renowned New England and British Isles song collector Helen Hartness Flanders, who passed away back in 1972. So as you can see from the preceding couple of sentences these are all vintage songs that helped blend a British, U.S link and as such it is important to preserve them. As I wrote above, the first couple of albums from this uniquely talented duo, 2012s 'Sun to Sun' and 2015s self titled recording followed the thread of tradition in the music making much more closely than this extraordinary collection that is full of experimentation despite the strong thread of traditional music always being there.
The duo consists of Anna Roberts-Gevalt on vocals, viola, banjo, guitar, vocoder and field-recording keyboard with Elizabeth LaPrelle on vocals and banjo. To give some idea of the makeup of the album it is necessary to list other musicians involved and the instrumentation although apart from the duo none played on more than just a few of the tracks. Benjamin Lazar Davis added his skills with Moog bass, Mellotron, pump organ, vocoder and toy piano, Susan Alcorn with her 'avant garde' skills ensured the pedal steel sounded unlike I've ever heard before, The Dirty Three's Jim White played drums and percussion on several tracks, Adam Dotson, trombone and euphonium, Cleek Schrey, hardanger d’amore, Alec Spiegelman played flute and clarinet, Jarrett Gilgore added saxophone to one song and Aaron Roche added a variety of 'sounds' and electric guitar to one song with the album being produced by Benjamin Lazar Davis and Anna Roberts-Gevalt. That little lot will let the reader know this is no ordinary 'folk music' album but probably ill prepares anyone for the beauty of the otherworldly sounds that will slowly unfurl themselves. As I said very few of the above are used on many of these songs so there is often a minimalist feel despite occasional washes of unidentifiable (to me) sounds that add texture and depth to these incredible performances.
The album opens with just Elizabeth's beautiful clear vocal on Jeano before the strangely eerie sound of the euphonium adds more depth with them soon being joined by a beautiful harmony vocal that unusually, helps to lighten things on a song that has a strange otherworldly eeriness, something the listener will soon get used to and immerse themselves in on this recording. The song ends with the sound of strange Japanese like 'angel chimes' cementing the otherworldliness of the song. On Black eyed Susan Jim White of The Dirty Three on drums gets things going along with the euphonium and a very restrained trombone with the addition of an unusual percussive guitar sound and an equally unusual percussion arrangement as the song opens up. The sound is filled with 'otherworldliness' but as things settle down and Elizabeth's beautiful vocal comes in an updated old world folksiness is brought to proceedings. It is impossible to lose concentration throughout this song that whilst moving at a funereal pace is lifted by the beauty of the vocals and the variations in the sparse instrumentation. A strange percussion links with a lead vocal that gradually takes on a haunting echo on Virginia rambler, with the treated steel guitar adding to the otherworldliness, also emphasized by the harmony vocals on a song (as with most on this extraordinary album) that seems to link the modern avant garde, albeit never overdone or beyond me, with in some ways, modern folksiness and an equal measure of that now famous description, 'that old weird America,' ultimately making it weirder, but always acceptably so. Boundary stretching and expanding, Yes, but never boundary destroying!
Speech and strange sounds get By the shore underway and it only slowly becomes apparent that a recognizable song structure is beginning to form. There are some unusual 'sounds,' as you might expect, but again as the beautiful vocals start to take over the strangeness starts to take form but then takes off in a different direction again, like little snippets of confused, or at least experimental, ideas. There is a guitar, albeit treated, a taste of steel guitar and more on this 'composition' that works and almost, but not quite, works brilliantly. It never seems too over the top 'avant garde' and will certainly still appeal to some contemporary tastes but it is strange although it is more than redeemed by the vocal sounds and by the fact they haven't just gone at it with all guns blazing but have actually tried to clarify their ideas. Final mention is of Mother in the graveyard, a beautiful old ballad that has a contemporary form with the beautiful lead and harmony vocals, although the instrument arrangement keeps the 'strange' atmosphere going on this stunningly beautiful song on which Jim Whites percussion gives a nice solid support to the guitar and other sounds.
I can usually come up with something when summing up an album but 'The invisible comes to us' is almost beyond me. Despite having listened to this recording dozens of times I still keep finding little nuances and strange, almost otherworldly perspectives that not only expand folk music from 'that old weird America' but also expand exponentially modern folk music. Some will say they have heard albums like this before, although I certainly haven't and if the object of this exercise by these two talented young women was to expand those boundaries whilst still retaining a format that everyone can relate to they have succeeded probably beyond even what they had hoped for. This astonishing recording will be filed on the shelf reserved for albums I want quick access to, although the filing of this unique recording is still a very long way off!
http://www.annaandelizabeth.com/
This is the third album from Anna and Elizabeth and whilst the first two recordings were difficult to describe and near impossible to compare to any other modern day artist, this new album is even more difficult to describe and any comparisons with modern day or even ages old are now impossible. How so? Their roots are still in that deep, incredibly eerie and often spooky 'old time' music that was prevalent in the very early days of recording and undoubtedly before, but the experimentation that seemed to be around the edges of their music is now far more pronounced, having taken a hold in bringing a much more expansive, almost avant garde, feel to these songs but without ever losing that edgy old time atmosphere.
Some of the eleven ballads on 'The invisible comes to us' were written (or found) in the first half of the 20th century and some are ages old and traceable back to the British Isles of several centuries ago and probably beyond. Of those songs a good half of them were collected by renowned New England and British Isles song collector Helen Hartness Flanders, who passed away back in 1972. So as you can see from the preceding couple of sentences these are all vintage songs that helped blend a British, U.S link and as such it is important to preserve them. As I wrote above, the first couple of albums from this uniquely talented duo, 2012s 'Sun to Sun' and 2015s self titled recording followed the thread of tradition in the music making much more closely than this extraordinary collection that is full of experimentation despite the strong thread of traditional music always being there.
The duo consists of Anna Roberts-Gevalt on vocals, viola, banjo, guitar, vocoder and field-recording keyboard with Elizabeth LaPrelle on vocals and banjo. To give some idea of the makeup of the album it is necessary to list other musicians involved and the instrumentation although apart from the duo none played on more than just a few of the tracks. Benjamin Lazar Davis added his skills with Moog bass, Mellotron, pump organ, vocoder and toy piano, Susan Alcorn with her 'avant garde' skills ensured the pedal steel sounded unlike I've ever heard before, The Dirty Three's Jim White played drums and percussion on several tracks, Adam Dotson, trombone and euphonium, Cleek Schrey, hardanger d’amore, Alec Spiegelman played flute and clarinet, Jarrett Gilgore added saxophone to one song and Aaron Roche added a variety of 'sounds' and electric guitar to one song with the album being produced by Benjamin Lazar Davis and Anna Roberts-Gevalt. That little lot will let the reader know this is no ordinary 'folk music' album but probably ill prepares anyone for the beauty of the otherworldly sounds that will slowly unfurl themselves. As I said very few of the above are used on many of these songs so there is often a minimalist feel despite occasional washes of unidentifiable (to me) sounds that add texture and depth to these incredible performances.
The album opens with just Elizabeth's beautiful clear vocal on Jeano before the strangely eerie sound of the euphonium adds more depth with them soon being joined by a beautiful harmony vocal that unusually, helps to lighten things on a song that has a strange otherworldly eeriness, something the listener will soon get used to and immerse themselves in on this recording. The song ends with the sound of strange Japanese like 'angel chimes' cementing the otherworldliness of the song. On Black eyed Susan Jim White of The Dirty Three on drums gets things going along with the euphonium and a very restrained trombone with the addition of an unusual percussive guitar sound and an equally unusual percussion arrangement as the song opens up. The sound is filled with 'otherworldliness' but as things settle down and Elizabeth's beautiful vocal comes in an updated old world folksiness is brought to proceedings. It is impossible to lose concentration throughout this song that whilst moving at a funereal pace is lifted by the beauty of the vocals and the variations in the sparse instrumentation. A strange percussion links with a lead vocal that gradually takes on a haunting echo on Virginia rambler, with the treated steel guitar adding to the otherworldliness, also emphasized by the harmony vocals on a song (as with most on this extraordinary album) that seems to link the modern avant garde, albeit never overdone or beyond me, with in some ways, modern folksiness and an equal measure of that now famous description, 'that old weird America,' ultimately making it weirder, but always acceptably so. Boundary stretching and expanding, Yes, but never boundary destroying!
Speech and strange sounds get By the shore underway and it only slowly becomes apparent that a recognizable song structure is beginning to form. There are some unusual 'sounds,' as you might expect, but again as the beautiful vocals start to take over the strangeness starts to take form but then takes off in a different direction again, like little snippets of confused, or at least experimental, ideas. There is a guitar, albeit treated, a taste of steel guitar and more on this 'composition' that works and almost, but not quite, works brilliantly. It never seems too over the top 'avant garde' and will certainly still appeal to some contemporary tastes but it is strange although it is more than redeemed by the vocal sounds and by the fact they haven't just gone at it with all guns blazing but have actually tried to clarify their ideas. Final mention is of Mother in the graveyard, a beautiful old ballad that has a contemporary form with the beautiful lead and harmony vocals, although the instrument arrangement keeps the 'strange' atmosphere going on this stunningly beautiful song on which Jim Whites percussion gives a nice solid support to the guitar and other sounds.
I can usually come up with something when summing up an album but 'The invisible comes to us' is almost beyond me. Despite having listened to this recording dozens of times I still keep finding little nuances and strange, almost otherworldly perspectives that not only expand folk music from 'that old weird America' but also expand exponentially modern folk music. Some will say they have heard albums like this before, although I certainly haven't and if the object of this exercise by these two talented young women was to expand those boundaries whilst still retaining a format that everyone can relate to they have succeeded probably beyond even what they had hoped for. This astonishing recording will be filed on the shelf reserved for albums I want quick access to, although the filing of this unique recording is still a very long way off!
http://www.annaandelizabeth.com/