Pokazywanie postów oznaczonych etykietą poetry. Pokaż wszystkie posty
Pokazywanie postów oznaczonych etykietą poetry. Pokaż wszystkie posty

czwartek, 5 czerwca 2025

Benefits - Constant Noise (2025)


The band who "write songs about things that concern [them]" and really, all of us, is back with a sophomore album. And I can safely say that they only get better with their fascinating and inspiring blend of poetry and synthetic music. Whatever you need to hear right now is probably already on Constant Noise.

I can't think of many artists who make music quite like Benefits. The spoken word poetry is, of course, the first thing that catches your attention. It is a lyrical take on post-punk social commentary focus, but there's more to it. I'm afraid not being a native speaker, a lot of it flies above me, but what I can catch, is striking enough. That's why those moments when lyrics about war and injustice is matched with disco-like electronica is especially shocking. But the music varies basically from track to track with harsh guitar noise and atmospheric drones as important as the electronic notes.

This combination of poetry and guitars makes me think of last year's album from Overhead, the Albatross, but maybe because since the recent dunk!festival, they are on my mind regularly. What also certainly deserves attention is the track recorded together with Peter Doherty of The Libertines which is a nice little thing that can brighten the day of an indie rock veteran like myself.

Constant Noise costs 9.5 EUR (7.99 GBP).

Check: Land of the Tyrants
Country: UK
Genre: eclectic lyrical post-punk
Label: Invada Records



czwartek, 21 kwietnia 2022

Oddfellow's Casino - Prince of the Starry Wheel (2022)


It's very weird but this is the first album of one of my favourite artists out there, that I post about about here. I wasn't sure if Oddfellow's Casino and his moody, folk-like avant-garde music fits the blog, but I stopped caring and just went for it. Especially that Prince of the Starry Wheel continues his strike of albums that instantly became my personal classics.

Singer/songwriter David Oddfellow developed his unique and outstanding style that encompasses the folkotronic mix of acoustic instruments and delicate electronic sounds, the use of harmonium (I recommend listening to his podcast album where he describes the origins of his fascination with this instrument) and very moody, folk-inspired lyrics. While his previous album, The Cult of Water, presented a fascinating story-like coherent narration, Prince of... seems to be more all over the place. Although the lyrics-heavy release certainly has a theme of sorts, being "an album of earth, feet, marches, burials and the passing of time" with the title borrowed from William Blake. Another special thing about David Oddfellow is how inteligent his texts are, how many stories they include, how much influence from various places include (they make me think of Neil Gaiman each time and I don't know a better compliment).

While his music certainly has this unique atmosphere, it's fast and flow-rich, more like The Decemberists than Her Name Is Calla if you catch my drift. The lyrics but also the smooth and pop-like engaging music is what makes Oddfellow's Casino one of my favourite artists ever and this is just a humble advertisement of his rich discography to everyone.

Prince of the Starry Wheel costs 9 EUR (7 GBP).

Check: The Quiet Man and his Dutch Wife
Country: UK
Genre: poetic folkotronica
Label: Nightjar Records



czwartek, 14 października 2021

Giorgio Fazer - Gdy rozum śpi (2021)


"The third and the best album" by the Warsaw-based duo Mateusz Franczak-Miron Grzegorkiewicz known as Giorgio Fazer, is called Gdy rozum śpi. This is not my assessment, it's what the artists stated on their own. After some impressive experimental music-infused poetry on Gorzki to chleb jest polskość and 2020's Odarci z godności, the duo is back with yet another mark on Polish music.

The artists are known for their poetic expression; they include recited poems all over their music and one could argue that the improvised guitar and electronica sounds around them are only a background, an experimental arrangement to extend the poetry's meaning. This time the poetry is represented by what is called "a mysterious voice on the tape in a found dictaphone", a voice of a man who is clearly delusional and follows some kind of borderline mad conspiracy theories. The voice samples open and close the album. The artists comment that "in the stories we found, we discovered the spirit of our times - the progressive, overwhelming madness" so their goal is to tame it by closing it in the form of music.

It is unnerving, especially that the album's title Gdy rozum śpi translates to the first part of Franciso Goya's masterpiece's title The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. One can only wonder what will eventually happen, in the reality around us as well as in the music while going through the album. The improvised sounds create a calm but psychedelically complex soundscape that is only made more attractive when the dreamy vocals appear and even more poignant when it gets swallowed by industrial noise in Czas decyzji

Gdy rozum śpi costs 8 EUR (1000 JPY).


Check: Czas decyzji
Country: Poland
Genre: psychedelic electronica
Label: mAtter



piątek, 17 września 2021

Pan Daijing - Jade 玉观音 (2021)


Born in China but residing in Berlin, Pan Daijing creates unique electronic and industrial music that on her new album Jade evolved into intimate and touching poetry performance as if she was standing right next to the listener and showing her heart.

After her debut solo album, the 2017 Lack, "Daijing has expanded her operatic vision into a series of major commissioned exhibition-performances" that involved big cultural institutions and epic-proportion compositions that included, for example, "full casts of opera singers and dancers". The new album was meant to be an antidote for this, a way for the artist to look inwards and produce more intimate music. It worked like charm, the electronica here is experimental enough to catch attention without overwhelming the audience, while the ambient pop vocals make it the subtlest, the most intimate poetry. Her voice, even though it's usually very quiet, sounds powerful both when put on top of delicate ambient or on harsh industrial noise. Not to mention the moment when it turns into opera-like madness in my favourite Metal.

Jade 玉观音  costs 7.5 EUR.

Check: Metal
Country: China/Germany
Genre: spoken word electronica



piątek, 2 kwietnia 2021

trajedesaliva - Ultratumba (2021)


The Spanish/Galician trajedesaliva is a band of a certainly long history. It was started back in 1998 as an attempt to create some darkwave/dark jazz music. I hadn't heard about them before I discovered their new (but only the fourth one?) album called Ultratumba and I have to say, there is a lot going on there and I love it.

The thing that enchanted me is, as it's often the case with me, the spoken word/poetry inclusion. This is something that sounds especially powerfully and poignant on the backgrounds of deep basses and electronic chaos. Especially with the heavy beats of A casa por las vías. Or with the harsh noise of other tracks. It is even more impressive when you realize the album was recorded "using only analogue synthesizers and voice". It was meant to be an intimate, personal take on industrial and noise (Familia Ferro!) electronica and it certainly feels like it. This is the way the duo conveys the message of the album being "family dialogue, full of sadness, acceptance and hope, that digs into the origin of melancholy". There's few things more personal than family relations. And few more intimate music touches than whispering vocals (so great in Arenas calientes!). 

Ultratumba costs 7 EUR.

Check: Arenas calientes
Country: Spain
Genre: spoken word noisy ambient
Label: Gradual Hate Records



wtorek, 12 stycznia 2021

Michael Denny & Simon Sylvester - Imaginary Mountains (2020)


Michael Denny is a composer, Simon Sylvester is a writer, both are related to the land of Cumbria, and together they created an album with music stretching from ambient soundscapes to mild post-rock ornamented with poems read by Hilary Pezet. This is Imaginary Mountains.

The album makes a "soundtrack to a walk in the wilds of another Cumbria" that was created for Aerial Festival, a festival of sounds and words in the Lake District. Very folk culture vibes here. And so the presence of the land and its people with their folklore and history is extremely audible throughout the work. This is, first of all, due to the lyrics/poems with the themes of last year's tough experiences of pandemics and lockdowns situated in the first rows but also considering a lot of other burning matters. 

But there are also samples of nature sounds and people's lives incorporated into the music and being its vital parts. Some pieces are extremely touching, most notably Fools We Are with its existential theme and very post-rock-like composition and ecologically engaged Ever Smaller Circle. There's a lot of  difficult topics here but aren't they all parts of our life now? 

Imaginary Mountains costs 6 GBP.

Check: Fools We Are 
Country: UK
Genre: spoken word post-rock



wtorek, 8 września 2020

Echoes of the Soul - Les Maudits du Soleil (2020) EN


Echoes of the Soul is a French piano-based project. But it's built also on some fantastic ideas and the most exciting of which is the basis of its new album called Les Maudits du Soleil

This album "takes place in a context of environmental decline and develops the idea of ​​a humanity", that seeks refuge in the totally sci-fi journey to the deep space. The idea together with the execution create extremely unique impression as the main plot device here is declamation of poetry written in alexandrine. Also, it's in French. I'm sure I miss a lot by not knowing a word in this language but, on the other hand, this itself creates somewhat mysterious and attracting atmosphere. And of course, poetry and piano are not typically the first thing you think of in the context of science fiction.

The whole album makes a solid wall of piano sounds and impressive spoken word performance. And then there are subtle samples and I think also strings. Very pretty, especially the exceptionally light Le Grand Départ or probably most climactic Hyldargi, ou le Graal Espéré (Part. I - Le Récif). It's not your obvious music but certainly worth checking out, even if someone doesn't know French.

Les Maudits du Soleil costs 5 EUR.


Check: Le Grand Départ
Country: France
Genre: poetry & piano



Echoes of the Soul - Les Maudits du Soleil (2020) PL


Echoes of the Soul to francuski projekt oparty przede wszystkim na dźwiękach pianina. Ale też na fantastycznych pomysłach, z których chyba najciekawszy na razie znalazł się na płycie Les Maudits du Soleil

Płyta ta "zajmuje miejsce w kontekście umierania środowiska naturalnego i rozwija pomysł ludzkości", która ocalenia szuka w sci-fi'owej podróży w głęboki kosmos. Pomysł wraz z jego egzekucją stwarzają szalenie oryginalne wrażenie jako że głównym nośnikiem treści jest tutaj deklamowana poezja zapisana aleksandrynem (Alexandrine). W dodatku po francusku. Na pewno wiele się traci nie znając języka, ale z drugiej strony, taki tajemniczy klimat też jest pociągający. No i poezja i pianino nie są najoczywistszym skojarzeniem z sci-fi.

Cała płyta tworzy solidną ścianę dźwięków pianina i efektownej deklamacji. Do tego subtelne sample i zdaje się smyczki. Bardzo ładne, zwłaszcza wyjątkowo zwiewne Le Grand Départ czy najbardziej chyba klimatyczny Hyldargi, ou le Graal Espéré (Part. I - Le Récif). Nieoczywista muzyka ale na pewno warta sprawdzenia, nawet jeśli ktoś nie zna języka.

Les Maudits du Soleil kosztuje 23 złote (5 EUR).


Sprawdź: Le Grand Départ
Kraj: Francja
Szufladka: poetry & piano



niedziela, 23 sierpnia 2020

Meqonenôt - So Hollow Hallowed (2020) PL


Niemiecki projekt Meqonenôt to klasyka anonimowego bandcampowego grania. Nie wiadomo o nim nic, ale nie zmienia to wiele - muzykę tworzy bardzo, bardzo udaną, a posłuchać można jej na płycie So Hollow Hallowed .

Bardzo ważną częścią muzyki projektu są wiersze walijskiego poety Dylana Thomasa. Zarówno Ceremony After a Fire Raid jak i Death Shall Have No Dominion to poważne poematy ważnego twórcy deklamowane niczym wojenne przemowy. Poza tym płyta opiera się na powolnym post-rocku graniczącym z instrumentalnym ambientem opartym na pojedynczych dźwiękach gitar i perkusji, co tworzy mroczny i minimalistyczny klimat, który pasuje tu jak ulał. Niemniej, długie utwory rozwijają się z czasem, So Hollow kończy się marszową perkusją i eterycznymi chórami, a So Hallowed na odwrót, zaczyna się niczym demowy utwór I Like Trains, a kończy deklamacją na tle minimalistycznego ambientu. Interesujące.

So Hollow Hallowed kosztuje tyle, ile chcesz zapłacić.

Sprawdź: So Hallowed
Kraj: Niemcy
Szufladka: spoken word post-rock



Meqonenôt - So Hollow Hallowed (2020) EN


A German project Meqonenôt is a classic anonymous Bandcamp music. There's nothing you know about it but it doesn't change much as the music it provides is really, really good and now can be listened to on the album called So Hollow Hallowed .

A huge part of the music are poems by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Both Ceremony After a Fire Raid and Death Shall Have No Dominion are serious ones written by a serious writer and cited as if they were war speeches. Besides this, the tracks are made of slow post-rock bordering with instrumental ambient based on the sounds of a single guitar and drums which creates dark and minimalist atmosphere and it's very fitting here. Still, the long tracks develop in time, So Hollow ends with marching drums and airy backing vocals while So Hallowed quite the opposite, begins like it was some demo track from I Like Trains and finishes with spoken word in the background of minimalist ambient. Very interesting.

So Hollow Hallowed costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: So Hallowed
Country: Germany
Genre: spoken word post-rock



środa, 5 czerwca 2019

Ivatu - Enormous and Mild (2019) EN


Created by the three artists: multi-instrumentalist Anton, poet Eava and producer Pavel, the Moscow-based trio Ivatu makes music from the border of trip-hop and sung poetry using mostly old-school ways (according to the wabi-sabi aesthetics). This is how the EP called Enormous and Wild was created.

Especially this poetic side of the project sounds the most spectacular. Eava sings her lyrics with her fantastically mesmerizing voice balancing between unsettling whispers and expressive confession (as in the brilliant Haunt). Another plus is that their trip-hop music is significantly different from other similar projects - dark and nervous pulsating in the background, sad sounds of strings and other instruments adding to the overall atmosphere of the songs.

The already mentioned approach to avoid using typical modern ways of delivering electronic music fits here perfectly. When recording, Ivatu used "vintage drummachines, samplers, synths and guitars" making the atmosphere unique and at the same time dark and tribal/folk (Heat & Hatchet, ladies and gentlemen).

Enormous and Mild costs 6 EUR.

Check: Heat & Hatchet
Country: Russia
Genre: dark trip-hop



Ivatu - Enormous and Mild (2019) PL


Założone przez trójkę artystów: multi-instrumentalistę Antona, poetkę Eavę i producenta Pavla moskiewskie trio Ivatu tworzy muzykę z pogranicza trip-hopu i poezji śpiewanej, a przy tym stara się używać do tego oldschoolowych metod (estetyki wabi-sabi). Tak powstała EP-ka Enormous and Wild.

Właśnie poetycka warstwa projektu brzmi najbardziej spektakularnie. Eava swoje teksty śpiewa fantastycznie hipnotyzującym głosem balansującym między niepokojącym szeptem a ekspresyjnym wyznaniem (chociażby we wspaniałym Haunt). Do tego trip-hopowa muzyka jest całkiem inna niż w większości projektów tego gatunku - mroczne i nerwowe pulsowanie w tle, smutne dźwięki strun i innego instrumentarium dodającego mnóstwa punktów do klimatyczności kawałków. 

Znakomicie znajduje się w tym wspomniane podejście do nieużywania współczesnych atrybutów wykonawców muzyki elektronicznej. Ivatu użyli w nagraniu "vintage'owe automaty perkusyjne, samplery, synthy i gitary" co daje niepowtarzalny, jednocześnie mroczny i tribalowo-folkowy klimat (Heat & Hatchet proszę państwa). 

Enormous and Mild kosztuje 26 złotych (6 EUR).

Sprawdź: Heat & Hatchet
Kraj: Rosja
Szufladka: dark trip-hop



środa, 27 lutego 2019

cintaadhesiva - FRONTEIRA PARAISO (2019) EN


Cintaadhesiva is a multimedia project the core of which is to put together poetry, music and visual arts. From the lyrics perspective led by Silvia Penas, from the music one by Jesús Andrés Tejada, the Spanish (Galician) collective does a lot so everybody could appreciate Iberian poetry without the knowledge of the language. Check it out on the January album FRONTEIRA PARAISO.

If anybody's tempted to depict the album to be recited text accompanied by music, the artists had prepared a reply for this: "It is an organic whole where text, music and video are not accompanied, but rather try to merge and confuse". The test doesn't function without the musi and the music without the text. That makes it especially sad that in order to fully appreciate the project's work one would have to speak Galician (even Spanish is not enough). On the other hand though, the poignant voice of Xabi Xil Xardón can be easily treated and appreciated as another kind of instrument.

And there are many of them. Cintaadhesiva inspires awe with the diversity of the music that sounds like one of the best soundtracks to an eerie spectacle. On one hand we have electric guitars, on the other the orchestral section, and they sometimes are more epic and sometimes more swinging (Lume). But always entirely unique.

FRONTEIRA PARAISO is free.

Check: A BELEZA
Country: Spain
Genre: cinematic spoken word



cintaadhesiva - FRONTEIRA PARAISO (2019) PL


Cintaadhesiva to multimedialny projekt, który w swojej istocie spaja poezję, muzykę i sztuki wizualne. Od strony tekstowej dowodzony przez Silvię Penas, a od muzycznej przez Jesúsa Andrésa Tejadę, hiszpański kolektyw robi wiele by każdy mógł poczuć magię iberyjskiej poezji nie znając języka. Sprawdźcie na styczniowej płycie FRONTEIRA PARAISO.

Jeśli kogoś kusi by użyć przy tym albumie stwierdzenia, że jest to recytowany tekst akompaniowany muzyką, artyści mają na to przygotowaną odpowiedź: "It is an organic whole where text, music and video are not accompanied, but rather try to merge and confuse". Tekst nie istnieje tutaj bez muzyki, a muzyka bez tekstu. Tym bardziej szkoda, że żeby w pełni projekt docenić należałoby mówić po galicyjsku (nawet nie po hiszpańsku). Z drugiej jednak strony, przejmujący głos Xabi Xil Xardón potraktować można jako kolejny, fascynujący instrument.

Tych i tak jest dużo. Cintaadhesiva zachwyca różnorodnością muzyki, która brzmi jak najlepsza ścieżka dźwiękowa do przedziwnego spektaklu. Mamy więc z jednej strony gitary elektryczne, a z drugiej sekcję orkiestralną, niekiedy bardziej epickie, niekiedy zupełnie rozkołysane (Lume). Ale za każdym razem natomiast zupełnie niepowtarzalne.

FRONTEIRA PARAISO jest darmowa.

Sprawdź: A BELEZA
Kraj: Hiszpania
Szufladka: cinematic spoken word



poniedziałek, 29 października 2018

The Mighty Avon Jnr. - Hold Everything Dear (2018) EN


Music project by the Irish artist Daragh McCarthy has finally released an album that had been created for almost 20 years (its opening track, Rapture Me Now, was released as a single in 1999). And it's wonderful news because Hold Everything Dear makes an utterly interesting composition with live instruments and poetry citing in the foreground.

Poetry is the correct word for McCarthy's lyrics. It's both intriguing and unsettling, one of my favourite fragments being certainly: "I asked you: Is that cigar smoke or teargas? You said, What’s the difference?” from Steeplejack Field Holler. From the music perspective, we deal with complex compositions in which the main part may be taken by either guitar drones (as in the monumental and absolutely beautiful Underground) or more traditional instruments, as for example trumpets.

Besides all of this, there are also other, non-obvious ideas from the multimedia artist's head: there are choir sounds (Wedding Chair), there are folk singing in the backgrounds, there are samples in Japanese (Jibutsu No Fokuroa), or a very much danceable chorus in Cobra Dear Heart. As stated here, the project makes  music that is so complex and complicated that no wonder that McCarthy calls is a "one-man band with a hundred members". 

Hold Everything Dear costs 7 EUR.

Check: Underground
Country: Ireland
Genre: spoken word post-folk



The Mighty Avon Jnr. - Hold Everything Dear (2018) PL


Projekt muzyczny irlandzkiego artysty Daragha McCarthy'ego wydaje w końcu płytę, która powstawała niemal 20 lat (otwierający ją Rapture Me Now wyszedł jako singiel w 1999 roku). I znakomicie się stało, że w końcu ją wydał, bo Hold Everything Dear tworzy nadzwyczaj interesującą kompozycję, w której na pierwszym planie znajdują się żywe instrumenty i recytowana poezja.

To właśnie poezją należy nazwać teksty głoszone przez McCarthy'ego. Jest ona intrygująca i niepokojąca, a wśród moich ulubionych fragmentów będzie z pewnością "spytałem cię: czy to dym papierosowy cy łzawiący? Odpowiedziałaś: co za różnica?" z Steeplejack Field Holler. Od strony muzycznej mamy do czynienia z kompleksowymi kompozycjami, w których prym wieść mogą zarówno gitarowe drony (w monumentalnym i pięknym Underground) jak i bardziej tradycyjne instrumenty, na przykład trąbki.

Do tego dochodzą nieoczywiste pomysły tego multimedialnego artysty: a to chóry (Wedding Chair), a to folkowe zaśpiewy w tłach, a to sample po japońsku (Jibutsu No Fokuroa), a to taneczny refren w Cobra Dear Heart. Jak widać, projekt tworzy muzykę tak złożoną i skomplikowaną, że nic dziwnego, że McCarthy nazywa go "jednoosobowym zespołem z setką członków". 

Hold Everything Dear kosztuje 30 złotych (7 EUR).

Sprawdź: Underground
Kraj: Irlandia
Szufladka: spoken word post-folk



wtorek, 24 lipca 2018

Play of the Waves / Игры Волн - EP I (2018) EN


The combination of poetry declamation with high quality music always makes me extremely interested. This is what the Russian project Play of the Waves is all about. On their debut EP, they managed to create some laid-back post-rock accompaniment for poetry in the language of Tolstoy.

As always in those cases, to experience this music fully, one would have to speak the language. But it's possible to go around this obstacle and treat the spoken word as another instrument. PotW show how to use it - the text is not particularly rhythmic as it's not hip-hop, but it's full of emotions ad creates an atmosphere of a poetry performance. The music that makes the background is described as "dream-pop with a taste of indie pop, trip-hop, little bit of kraut rock & post rock", many different ingredients but together they create delicate and non-pushy guitar music, pleasant as a Sunday afternoon.

It doesn't mean that it doesn't leave a trace in a listener's ears though. And so, "Telephone" inspires with the use of whispers that are supposed to imitate overheard conversations on the phone, "Past" with surprisingly aggressive burst of drums and "Burn!" with interesting, trip-hopping background.

The EP costs 1 USD.



Play of the Waves / Игры Волн - EP I (2018) PL


Połączenie poetyckiej deklamacji z wysokiej jakości muzyką działa na mnie zawsze jak apetyczna płachta na byka. Taki jest rosyjski projekt Play of the Waves, który na swojej debiutanckiej EPce stworzył wyluzowany post-rockowy akompaniament pod poezję w języku naszych sąsiadów ze wschodu.

Jak zawsze w podobnym przypadku, do przeżywania w pełni takiej muzyki, potrzebna byłaby znajomość języka. Da się jednak to obejść, traktując mówione słowo jak kolejny instrument. PotW pokazuje jak to wykorzystać - tekst mówiony nie jest specjalnie rytmiczny (to nie hip-hop) ale bogaty jest w emocje i specyficzny klimat poetyckiego performansu. A muzyka towarzysząca opisana jest jako "dream pop ze szczyptą indie popu, trip-hopu, odrobiną krautrocka i post-rocka", wiele różnych składników, które razem tworzą łagodne i nienachalne przede wszystkim gitarowe granie, przyjemne jak niedzielne popołudnie.

Nie przeszkadza to jednak w zostawianiu śladu w słuchaczach. I tak "Telephone" ujmuje wykorzystaniem szeptów grających podsłuchane na linii rozmowy. "Past" nadspodziewanie agresywnym wybuchem perkusji, a "Burn!" bardzo ciekawym, trip-hopującym podkładem.

EPka kosztuje 4 złote (1 USD).



czwartek, 4 stycznia 2018

Giorgio Fazer - Gorzki to chleb jest polskość (2017) EN


Giorgio Fazer is cooperation between Miron Grzegorkiewicz (known from JAAA!), Mateusz Franczak (Daktari) and tons of lyricism and sensibility that is so characteristic of poetry. This time though, poems are written with sounds and were inspired by works of Polish poets.

Now we know who is in Giorgio Fazer, but who IS he? Undoubtedly, he is an artist who writes about Poland from abroad as an emigrant. How do I know that? The unclear vocal is in English, Fazer lives across the Pond (probably Milwaukee (the third song's title translates to "Sunset in Milwaukee)) and doesn't have home (the 8th one means "It's already April, Giorgio and you are still homeless"). Also, it would mean that he is a great heirs of a traditional Polish artist who had to emigrate from Poland and is now sick of melancholia.

Especially that the album deals with questions like "who are we?" "what do we live for?", "what Polishness is?" and if it's bitter (as the title of the album says "Polishness is a bitter bread"). It does so with the help of seemingly chaotic samples and guitar sequences tied together with more or less doubtful melodies. But seen from a longer distance they form some shape. Maybe it is an answer for the questions about Poland.

"Gorzki to chleb jest polskość" costs 5 EUR (20 PLN).



środa, 22 listopada 2017

Paosin The Well - Garasu No Kokoro / ガラスの心 (2017) EN


Paosin The Well, mysterious artists from the Philippines, creates an intimate mixture of ambient, dub and... poetry for people with glass hearts (as suggested by the album's title, ガラスの心 in Japanese means exactly a glass heart). She draws attention like a powerful magnet and amazes with her original ways of art.

The poems recited by the singer with accompanying electronic music inspires the audience with both their message and form. Not only do they tell what the situation in the poet's head is in a very intimate way (quite literary in "Inside A Mad Girl's Head") but also are perfectly fitted for a rhythmic though not very fast recitation, just like the good hip-hop lyrics. Sometimes it's clear and served literary, sometimes well distorted and atmospheric  ("A New Beginning").

And the accompanying electronics consist of ambient backgrounds as flexible as the water surface that are overwritten only by subtle melodies played with keys and beats appearing out of nowhere (as in "Little Isabel (Don't Fret)").

"ガラスの心" costs 6 USD.