A true gem that shines gracefully with a cinematic sense and provides an absorbing forty-minute long listening experience.
Nowadays it’s always nice to bump into an album that is mainly organic. I Thought It Was Us But It Was All Of Us contains tasteful electronic treatments, but they are there in small doses only to spice up and intensify. After I heard the seventh track, “ICA,” on SoundCloud, I knew I need to get the album and investigate further. The fact that it was released by the influential Montreal-based Constellation imprint made me even more curious, and anxious to dive deeper.
Fortunately, my instincts did not let me down. This debut album is a true gem that shines gracefully with a cinematic sense and provides an absorbing forty-minute long listening experience.
Saltland is the new project of Canadian cellist, Rebecca Foon, best known as a founding member of the contemporary chamber group Esmerine, and former member of Thee Silver Mt. Zion and Set Fire To Flames. The sonic fabrics of I Thought It Was Us But It Was All Of Us are soft and caressing, but also piercing and dynamic. Within the eight compositions propulsive and atmospheric drumming and percussion work and subtle programming—all by Jamie Thompson (Unicorns, Esmerine)—beautifully accompany Foon’s mystically seductive cello playing and tender vocals. The contributions of many guests add a lot of color and spark. Guitar, bass, bass flute, saxophone, violin, kalimba, trumpet, dulcimer, backing vocals, keyboards and more, are carefully knitted.
On the press release it says: “Foon sings of childhood innocence lost, of tender utopic reveries and downcast dystopic horizons, and the search for soft, stoic strength in a darkening, devolving world.” To be honest, I can’t say too much about the lyrics as for now I still enjoy hearing the vocals as another instrument that simply adorns and evokes without being specific. When it comes to style, I Thought It Was Us But It Was All Of Us can be described as a lovely fusion of dream pop, folk and shoegaze, infused with modern classical shades and gentle electronic scents. Squeezing this album into one genre square is definitely impossible.
I Thought It Was Us But It Was All Of Us is available on Constellation.
