Landing
Passages Through
K
Gorgeous. This album is absolutely gorgeous. Imagine finally being able to make it to another galaxy, landing on another planet. The planet is entirely blue, with what looks to be ice covering what we would call an atmosphere. There is a sun, but it too is a strange hue of blue, yet just as warm as ours. There are oceans that move slowly, the consistency is both fluid enough to drink and thick enough to sustain your weight if you felt like walking on it. And the sounds in the air consists of sounds similar to those on Passages Through.
I am a middle school English teacher, and I like to do an exercise in which I have students listen to music and write down the things that come into their mind (images, colors, etc.). Were I to use Passages Through for such an exercise, I would see lots of blue, images of ice, snow floating through the air, whiteness, faceless white bodies walking around, and peaceful things.
The primary instruments on this landing album are guitars that twinkle, keyboards, occasional percussion and random weirdness. When there are vocals, they are usually those of an angelic female voice, who half breathes/half sings her lyrics. She sounds so absolutely enchanting that it’s almost uncanny. It is a voice that is very reminiscent of Lush’s lead singer, but much more honest and pure sounding.
I can honestly say that it’s been a long time since such a quiet record has had such an effect on me. The last one like this that has remained essential to me was the Cure’s Faith, which I discovered back in 1989. I am absolutely in love with Passages Through (although I could do without the songs on which the male singer sings). This is an album that really needs to be heard. I suspect, too, that this will make a tremendous record to read to next January, when everything outside is frozen and white, just like the songs on this record.
K Records: http://www.krecs.com/
