Foreign Body

About

Brooding textures and melancholy come together on <i>Foreign Body</i>, a collaborative project by Grouper (Liz Harris) and Tiny Vipers (Jesy Fortino). Under the name Mirroring, these two Pacific Northwest artists make soundscapes of striking beauty, painted with chilly sonic colors that don’t disguise the warm human undercurrents within. Harris’ austere, quietly dramatic sonic backdrops are complemented by Fortino’s stark acoustic guitar work and softly keening vocals, at times suggestive of The Cocteau Twins’ more somber works. “Fell Sound” and “The Mirror of Our Sleeping” frame the album with grand overarching drones, while the clearly limned “Silent from Above” and the gauzy, vaguely Celtic “Cliffs” place greater focus on Fortino’s haunting lyrics and evocative singing. <i>Foreign Body</i>’s high point is “Mine,” a track both stately and intimate in mood. It builds from a misty opening into a grand industrial buzz at its climax. Collectively, the album achieves a pleasing midpoint between the more ruminative side of freak-folk and the outer edges of low-fi ambient music.

via Apple Music