A tender, gentle, minimalistic and rather beautifully eccentric release about mutability and death? It’s the third collaborative LP by producer Richard Russell, joined by a stellar cast of singers, voices and musicians including Sampha, Bill Callahan, Noah Cyrus, Florence Welch, Maddy Prior, Kamasi Washington, Berwyn, Alabaster DePlume and Jah Wobble. Yazz Ahmed, Laura Groves, Rickey Washington, Roses Gabor, Jack Peňate, Samantha Morton, Clari Freeman-Taylor and Nourished By Time complete this large cast. As Russell puts it: “Making the album was joyous, a way of hallowing life.” There’s a ghostly fragility to much of the music, with highlights including former Song of the Day Swamp Dream #3 featuring Mary In The Junkyard, with intricate work by guitarist and vocalist Clari Freeman-Taylor, bassist and viola player Saya Barbaglia and drummer David Addison. Sampha’s high, delicate voice is a perfect fit on several tracks, including My And Me, Never Felt Better, and the standout catchy single Losing You. Bill Callahan’s deep tones also interweaves intriguingly with Noah Cyrus on the oddball, folk-country Porcupine Tattoo, while Firelight is a lovely intermingling of wistful warbly vocals (“I remember firelight ..”), spoken voice tinkly piano and brass, with a understated singing by Florence Welch, rapping by Berwyn, and the distinctive jittering saxophone of Alabaster DePlume, who decorates several tracks with that sound. No More Rehearsals (with Jah Wobble, Roses Gabor and others) and the ghostly You Were Smiling (with Sam Morton) are also among several very beautiful tracks, delicately melancholy and wistful, the former with a particularly, stirring beautiful chorus. A wonderfully strange, cinematic work, bringing together many disparate artists into a cohesive collection of delicate gems. Out on XL Recordings.
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