The Gray Field Recordings: She Sleeps to the Sound of Knives (AntiClock Records, 2023)
July 15, 2023 at 8:17 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
The Gray Field Recordings: She Sleeps to the Sound of Knives
R. Loftiss’s avant-folk project returns after more than a decade since their last album. I actually haven’t listened to them before, but they were on the
Gold Leaf Branches comp on Digitalis back in 2005, and had CD-Rs on labels like Reverb Worship. There’s elements of Coil alchemy, but also Natural Snow Buildings drone-folk and surreal collage poetry, incorporating unique instruments and sometimes children’s voices. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” is the album’s 18-minute centerpiece, and it’s a cryptic, hypnotic web of sometimes-reversed text, dulcimer vibrations, and cracked transmissions. “Verdant Green” has sharp clanging for percussion but has a sort of sweet vocal melody, making it one of the most inviting moments on the album. “Sex Flowers” starts out with whirring noises that sound like bees buzzing, then has sensual poetry, rubbery synths, and thumpy beats at the end. “Who Will Bright the Light?” is a much darker, more haunting drone, and then the sparse, creeping title track is as disturbing as its title. Lastly, “Wilderness Takes Over” begins delicate and intimate, then ends up unhinged and noisy, but the glowing synth trail makes it feel like it’s staying on a tightrope during a storm.
The Answer Is In The Beat 
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