challenging albums of high quality. Tara Burke's delicate voice and shape-shifting folk drone has built her an admirable reputation as a key faction in the psych-folk community.
Lepidoptera does nothing to build the profile of Tara Burke's psych-folk project, but it also does nothing to diminish it. It just fails to develop its own identity as an album. Even when the song and tempo change on Lepidoptera, there is still a sense that the record is a "here's what I do" sampler pack instead of a new album. The tracklisting jumps stylistically from clanking acoustic guitar-led religious chants to heavy drone moans to organ mantras, and no one song segues into another.
"Moonlight Sonata" is one of the better representations of what Burke is capable of. On a good Fursaxa song, each swirling organ line, ghastly vocal chant, and repetitive echoing guitar strum blend into one characteristically indistinguishable lockbox of daydream folk. "Sonata"'s creeping melody and push-and-pull vocal arrangement fuse with gentle accordion sweeps to create a lulling tide of feather drift pop for the hipster soul.
Conversely, "Neon Lights" is the embodiment of the pratfall of the free-folk movement. Rather than sounding like a true avant-garde statement, it sounds like a cop-out. The monkey chants featured on the song are underlined by the chiming stroke of a few single chords held down for moments on end. The result sounds a lot like your little sister strumming your acoustic guitar and singing along with her Dadaist three-year-old nonsensical chants.
Three tracks on the album run over seven minutes, and they are fantastic examples of Burke's power. They all dwell on a particular plane, from an organ drone to an Avey Tare-esque windmill guitar workout to simple guitar drone. Burke then explores this plane with her Gregorian chant vocal probing. The effect is a heady trip into the ambient that will make time slip from under your pillow.
So Miss Burke, this is an impressive resume. However, your fans would like a portrait of an artist, not a series of snapshots.
1. Freedom
2. Purple Fantasy
3. Velada
4. Moonlight Sonata
5. Neon Lights
6. Karma
7. Poppy Opera
8. Russian Snow Queen
9. Pyracantha
10. Tyranny
11. Una De Gato
More about: Fürsaxa
