Hovering and evolving in its own delicious, delicate, ghostly hinterland between folk, classical, jazz and ambient electronica, this exquisite debut by the British singer and composer from York is an ethereal, mesmeric tapestry of layered voices and acoustic instruments. Progressing from earlier EPs Rushing and Rain’s Break, this first LP is reminiscent at times of Kate Bush and Cocteau Twins, her vocal textures begin as improvisations before being woven into a narrative, taking cues from the incantatory chanting found in Middle English poetry such as The Names of the Hare, as well as the prescient imagery in contemporary works like The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington (1974). There’s a titular echo in the track Jack Hare, and of the trumpet, among the highlights, the gorgeous former Song of the Day, Clouds, describing “particles forming”, culminates in a fabulous improvisation by jazz cornetist Harry Furniss. Opener Like Clay is inspired by the landscapes and birdlife of Northumberland. Night Window (Part One) and Night Window (Part Two) are key pieces and nocturnal evocations, the first quieter and more meditative, the second opening out into a swell of beautiful sound and evolving jazz. Keep Pulling Me In is another highlight, twittering strings and echoing vocals creating a sonic, dreamlike labyrinth. Our Relativity gathers various dissonant and harmonious collages in shifting patterns, before the closer and title track, stirringly cinematic and orchestral, rich in cello, mixing memory and desire, metaphor and the literal with Gooch’s voice singing: “Yes you perceived it when the garden opened you/ Each city needed your eyes when a feathering crowd of memory passed/ Or when some winged thing lifted and danced in zest/ When you looked on from desert window…” Wondrous. Out on Fire Records.
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