A Closer Listen tends to be positive in its reviews, so sometimes it’s difficult to tell what we like the most. This page highlights the releases we have on repeat.
Isabel Pine ~ Fables (kranky)
This has already been a great year for winter music, and Isabel Pine’s debut album (following a series of EPs) captures a feeling of splendid solitude: retreat as renewal. Recorded in an isolated cabin in British Columbia, the music is at peace with the world, content in the snowdrifts, warm despite the cold.
Placid Angles ~ Canada (Oath)
John Beltran returns with a stunningly gorgeous set inspired by the people and landscapes of Canada. The album begins and ends in ambience, with a pulsing electronic center, laden with breakbeats and a feeling of vast, open spaces. This is the bright side of winter: the majesty of snowcapped mountains, the sparkling light of effervescent streams.
Mary Lattimore & Juliana Barwick ~ Tragic Magic (InFiné Éditions)
Tragic Magic is everything fans of the individual artists could have wanted and more. The album enchants listeners with voice, harp and wonderland sounds, a storybook translated into sound. In this forest, there is no danger, only wonder and grace.
a closer listen 