Basque, "Falling Forward." Lacqua Records.
http://www.basquemusic.com

1. Somefire
2. Falling Forward
3. Kamehameha
4. Grey and Green
5. Inheritance (Talk Talk cover song)
6. In The Hollow Of Your Hand
7. Orange-Colored Sky

"Falling Forward" is the third recording by the New York-based duo of
Brandt (bass) and Maryasque (vocals and guitar). Between the three
elements—voice, bass and guitar—they sculpt a sparse sound that
relies as much on silence as it does noise. It's a sound that mixes
the ethereality of the Cocteau Twins with the `emo-core' aesthetic
championed by Low. It's a hybrid sound: lo-fi New Age. The
opening track "Somefire" sets the contemplative mood, with a dark
blue bass tone, over which a lone soprano wordlessly soars. It's a
not-quite soothing track, one that avoids New Age schmaltz by
telegraphing actual loneliness. The title track is an autumnal pop
song, complete with a catchy (if indecipherable) chorus. Brandt
augments his bass playing with audible, rhythmic clicks, while
Maryasque's guitar forms a gentle circular pattern. It's like an
Innocence Mission song stripped down to the blueprints. "Grey and
Green" evokes those colors perfectly, with a hesitant verse cascading
into rich, rewarding bridge. Notes and space between them are given
equal illumination.

Maryasque's take on `glossolalia' is unique: her words are supremely
important to her, her conversational phrasing reminiscent of
confessional singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega and Jane Siberry,
while still retaining an unearthly edge. Call it earthy-ethereal,
the union of Liz Fraser and Phoebe Snow (on the low end notes). In
short, she achieves vocally the inchoate, open-ended quality of
Vega's and Siberry's lyrics.

Another model for this approach is the novel cover of Talk Talk's
song "Inheritance." Talk Talk's Mark Hollis singing is
impressionistic and intimate, relying more on nuance than meaning;
Basque's version of his song is an appropriate tribute. A miasma of
bass-drone rumbles, while the song is sung in minor keys. Phoebe
Snow's influence emerges with the jazz-scented song "In the hollow of
your hand." Balancing out the straightforward songs is plaintive
chant "Kamehameha" and the multi-tracked acapella "Orange Colored
Sky," which sounds like a cross between the Roches and Meredith
Monk. "Falling Forward" does not so much move *forward* as move
*further* within.

--Craig