Mirroring - Foreign Body

Another artist dear to my heart is Grouper. Ever since Julia and I saw that show of hers in an old church I have never been the same. I believe I've hated standing at shows ever since this one. Trancing out in a pew is second to none as far as concert set and setting goes. And thus, I have enjoyed this album a bit, been confused some, got distracted a lot by crying children in the night. This album has come at a highly transitional time for my life as a young parent.

Fans of Grouper's Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill rejoice! Liz Harris's "breakout" album (for the indie masses, at least) was an experiment on her part to let her voice be more clearly heard above her signature drift-scapes and sonic storms. But like spotting a white dolphin in a muddy river, it was a one-time glimpse, as the Portland, OR resident next released Alien Observer/Dream Loss, which sank her voice back into the haunted murk. Enter Jesy Fortino, the Seattle-based song writer known as Tiny Vipers. Her melancholy folk guitar and near-Patti Smith voice make for a genuine complement and balancing weight to Harris's experimentalism (and a voice up in the mix). Thus we have Foreign Body, a collaboration where both women were responding to each other in person and one that truly behaves cohesively. The album warms up with the very Grouper-dominated "Fell Sound", and then Fortino's voice and guitar are the main draw on "Silent From Above." It is as if the artists each took a turn getting their feet wet, and so it is on the third track "Cliffs" that we hear the leap in the stylistic fusion. The acoustic guitar lingers in space as if taking a series of labored breaths before gaining the courage to press on. Once it develops its momentum the album's deepest journey begins, placing both women's voices amongst various landscapes and textures. "Drowning the Call" is also a must-listen, and is perhaps the best lullaby fans of drone and ambient may hear this year. Harris's voice has never been more comforting and reassuring, and as the vocal duet drifts in unison it's easy to feel at peace. "Mine" brings Fortino back to the fore, and as the album's most challenging piece it best expresses the idea of a "foreign body" with feelings of great distance and solitude. It would be a shame if these two didn't make another Mirroring album, because while varied and well-blended, Foreign Body feels like the first step to higher peaks. The two artists are a natural fit, and the contrast between the wash of sound paired with a pointed starkness is an intriguing world worth exploring deeply.