Molly Leach is an animist, singer songwriter, producer and by the sounds of it multi-instrumentalist from the wilds of Montana, with a nice line in the somewhat lost art of nature synergising song craft.
Her debut LP is an ode to the wilds of Glacier National Park during its coldest months, which I imagine are particularly chilly, where the moon and sun's glow illuminate the snow covered peaks and the soundtrack is provided by winter winds and the hardiest of birds.
Trying to capture that natural essence, rugged wildness and primal essence is always going to be a tricky task, but her voice and universal consciousness probing piano do an admirable job on the whole, but it's on the mellower tracks, where the field recordings come to the fore and the ambience is turned up to eleven, where the real magic lies for me, with "little bird", the LP's second track being the winner.
The piano is gentle, the park's fauna play their part as do some defrosted chimes, there are some piano creaks captured by the close micing and a pleasant analog hiss and magnetic tape dullness to the unhurried Gaian ballad, as if the track is dampened by several inches of snow. Lovely stuff.
Playlist Companion.
You can find "little bird" in the ethereal realms of the Ambient Pop Playlist.
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