The music collected here is anything but dispiriting. It is the sound of a garden turning toward the morning sun and listening to itself—birds chip, a brook burbles, dew evaporates. Children play nearby.
A duo for the first two years of its existence, consisting of Jeff Stonehouse and Kate Tustain, the former of whom now soldiers on solo. Resting in Aspic gathers music they made together as Listening Mirror, released in limited quantities in boutique editions, which makes the album title highly appropriate and a little melancholic. Now they are suspended together, forever, like dragonflies trapped in amber—or rather, aspic, of course, wings vibrating every time the jelly shimmies. Also appropriate, as their music is as tremulous as an aspen leaf.
However, the music collected here is anything but dispiriting. It is the sound of a garden turning toward the morning sun and listening to itself—birds chip, a brook burbles, dew evaporates. Children play nearby. Neither is this fragrant ambience cloying; the ever-present, delicate electronic shimmer is a pool into which the piano drops notes one by one, notes that float rather than break the surface.
“The Organist” shifts scenes as the wordless vocals of Tustain scintillate the air of an imagined grey, concrete space, a lengthy tunnel perhaps, her only accompaniment mimicking a huge, unceasing extraction fan. The contrast between stark, rough and featureless and smooth, feminine and colourful is powerful and fits surprisingly seamlessly into the otherwise Arcadian setting.
With “Falling Under,” avians of flesh and bone are replaced by electronic proxies. On the penultimate track, “Venice Boxhead,” these electronics are transformed into background dissonance and the most prominent birdsong is the cackle of the crow. What the ear first perceives as a break with character is soon assimilated and enjoyed. The closing “Wet Roads” is, perhaps fittingly, the most prominent showcase for Tustain’s empyrean vocals. Now we look forward to hearing how Listening Mirror evolves as a solo proposition.
Resting In Aspic is available on Hibernate. Buy at Hibernate, Bandcamp, iTunes or Amazon.
