posted 05/25/2006 (Thu) @ 04:56 pm

>>> Music Reviews

Espers - II (2006)

Haunting folk brew

cover art

  1. Dead Queen
  2. Widow’s Weed
  3. Cruel Storm
  4. Children Of Stone
  5. Mansfield And Cyclops
  6. Dead King
  7. Moon Occults The Sun

The dreary, sparkling world of Espers is as sharp and haunting a trip as a drop of blood falling from a blade of grass. “II” is a worthy follow-up to the acclaimed first Espers record, which itself was full of slightly off and entrancing female-sung melodies, but more lucidly realized. Which is not to say that “II” isn’t a hazy, cumulus cloud of bittersweet musical beauty.

Lazy-yet-epic acoustic plucked opener “Dead Queen” drifts around on harmonized choral vocals like cigarette smoke, never hinting at the smoldering middle section filled out with a wandering overdriven guitar. Richly expanded instrumentation carries the song to its end. “Dead Queen” hints at what the rest of “II” has to offer: spooky acoustic folk peppered with flute, cello, and even weirder sounds that adhere to a framework of subtly dynamic songcraft like salt to beach rocks.

Some songs, like “Mansfield and Cyclops,” are off and running at a good gallop before you even realize they’ve passed the starting gate, riding on pure musicianship with an understanding of the power of orchestral dynamics. Less of a piece-by-piece assemblage of segues, the songs truly evolve out of and back towards silence, rarely staying at exactly the same spot for long. Overall, “II” is a musical backdrop that can take the listener anywhere from a gothic plantation manor, to the sky, to the backyard. This is music that has the kind of sonic power that a video image of an empty swing on a run-down playground can convey. It’s grown-up yet childlike, partly sunny but partly cloudy, wary of death but full of vitality and feeling. And highly recommended, especially for fans of Iron and Wine, Black Heart Procession, the Dirty Three, or hallucinogens.

Tags: , , ,

Permalink | May 25th, 2006

1 comment on this article

  1. Three Star Smash » Blog Archive » Les Fragments de la Nuit - Musique Du Crépuscule (2008) Says:
    October 23rd, 2008 at 8:09 am

    [...] this gothic classical, yet vaguely still “rock” tightrope. Take the DADGAD lovin’ psych-folk troupe Espers, for instance: deserted playground spooky, but with a folk/rock undercurrent to keep the attention [...]

Leave a Reply