May 27, 2009

Album review: Elfin Saddle - 'Ringing For The Begin Again'

Fairytale drone-folk casts a charm

7 / 10 As mystical as the magic mushroom they named themselves after, this Montreal duo create an unsettling hybrid of western archival folk and Japanese music that sounds like a Brothers Grimm fairytale set in a forest after dark. The accordion provides a base for dense layers of melodies and the eerie rattle of junkyard percussion. On opener ‘The Bringer’ the Appalachian drone swells up to a crescendo with the haunting vocals of Emi Honda, before she enchants us with the lullaby-like ‘Running Sheep’. The music box chimes of ‘Muskeg Parade’ are reminiscent of San Franciscan orchestral spooks Iron And The Albatross, while ‘The Ocean’ has the haunting resonance of music that only exists in dreams.

Tessa Harris

More on this artist:
Elfin Saddle NME Artist Page
Elfin Saddle MySpace