(Hidden Shoal)

Sweet, spaced-out and a little strange

Boxharp is a North Carolina-based collaboration between Balustrade Ensemble members Wendy Allen and producer/recordist/mixer Scott Solter. Their first full-length, The Green is a blend of dream pop and experimental ambient elements. Gentle gramophone crackling between echoing drumbeats and atmospheric synth make Wooden Music stand as a soundscape all on its own. In Leatherwing Bat and Hicks’ Farewell, however, the sparse instrumentation serves as a vessel for Allen’s voice, which soars like a Celtic hymn. More conventionally structured, the title track is a gentle folk-pop offering that sees a keyboard part exploring the upper registers while Allen self-harmonises and a simple drum machine line keeps time. Conversely, Cloy sees the percussion stripped away and a mournful note bleeding into the vocals. The albums’ elegance lies in the minimalist arrangement, which allows Allen’s porcelain-fragile voice to draw the focus and give each little hiss, string-strike and echo purpose and space to resonate.

NILS HAY

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