The Drowned Ground is the 3rd release from Mojave duo Less Bells. Following up their beautiful and haunting LP Mourning Jewelry on Kranky Records, they invite the listener on a tour of deep time, wind mountain villages, secret caverns and Victorian parlors.
A tour of deep time, wind mountain villages
The Drowned Ground is the 3rd release from Mojave duo Less Bells. Following up their beautiful and haunting LP Mourning Jewelry on Kranky Records, they invite the listener on a tour of deep time, wind mountain villages, secret caverns and Victorian parlors. Carpenter and Luscombe specialize in blending electronic and acoustic sounds in surprising ways, and they pull in environmental sound samples and unusual instruments like hurdy-gurdy and shahi baaja. The viola takes a prominent spot in the album as a melody instrument, in addition to the usual violin and cello arrangements from Carpenter and the synth work by Luscombe on Buchla, Moog modular, and Prophet 5. The world The Drowned Ground proposes may be post-human, but it isn’t apocalyptic. They envision a partnership between technology and nature. ~Press Release
Julie Carpenter and Dain Luscombe formed Less Bells when they left Los Angeles and settled in the California desert of Joshua Tree. Carpenter had been a session violinist, and toured with artists such as Love with Arthur Lee, Eels, Spiritualized and more. Luscombe was composing for TV and film, and had toured as a keyboardist as well with Marjorie Fair and Bell Gardens. Taking their newfound space and time to explore, the duo gave free rein to their eclectic musical interests.
Less Bells pulls from American folk, classical music, experimental electronica, and European folk traditions as well. The hurdy gurdy drones along with the Buchla synth; violins and cellos twine along with coyote howls and gusts of wind recorded in the wilderness outside the studio. Their background in soundtrack music has shaped their creative output as well, and the music often has a cinematic, narrative quality which speaks of landscapes both beautiful and frightening.
The Drowned Ground is available on Meadows Heavy Recorders. [Bandcamp]
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