We heard from Galway duo Yawning Chasm last week about release details for their new Whispered Sun EP (go here to refresh your memory), and some other things.
To mark the end of their recent series of live shows with Brigid Power-Ryce (Cork, Limerick, Dublin, Galway), they’ve put together a very neat round-up of the jaunt in text, pictures and video on their blog. Have a look here.
http://yawningchasm.tumblr.com/post/20869813636/round-up-of-march-april-tour-with-brigid-power-ryce
The 4-track EP has been on repeat at my house for a few weeks now. It is one of the more enduring Irish releases I’ve come across in some time. Consisting largely of simple guitar figures (plucked or strummed), conjoined with humming, serpentine keyboard lines, the arrangements have a narcotic effect over time.
Aaron Coyne’s singing is deceptively low-key – he almost seems to be singing to himself at times. When you find yourself humming along, however, you’ll realise the nuance and subtlety at work. Like his gentle “woo-hoo”, a half-heard call of the wild, on the title track. Or the extra depth of the layered vocal on ‘Before I was here’, like a private conversation, wrapped in Declan Kelly’s pulsing, shimmering metallic synth sound. While ‘Your blue blue blue blue eyes are killing me’ drowns itself magnificently in its swirling earth’s core drone.
The whole thing manages to be intimate, with the slightest hint of raw savagery, but still remain utterly hospitable. It’s beguiling stuff and makes me impatient for their album later in the year.
Here’s a good example of their elemental sound, from the Dublin gig in Designist (E-bow on banjo, how cool).
The Whispered Sun EP is available now as a free download from bandcamp
