Regardless of the difficulty setting of the moment, as always, new and under-discussed talents from the worlds of underground music continue to use community and craft to find a way. The pandemic’s economic impact has hugely affected the arts, with those already struggling financially being hit the hardest. Despite the sometimes spoken, sometimes unspoken uncertainties that colour the day-to-day realities of many, music continues to function as a shared communal space and a source of collective solace. Depending on where you are in the world right now, you might be out of lockdown and dancing, or returning to restrictions. We’ve looked at the history of 80s and 90s raves in Coventry, and covered an album made from the sound waves of people’s orgasms. Captivating.In recent weeks on Dazed, we’ve been covering PinkPantheress, BTS super producer Adora, aya, and Blawan. Her vocals weave in an out of the ambient pop background and gentle guitar picking before melting into these sounds and becoming one. It presents that duality found in her music that has become her trademark - personal, inward looking, with a gentle yet focused lens that magnifies the warmth coming from her layered vocals. “Demons In Our Midst” is taken from Merz’ upcoming album. With allusions to dark-pop and classic broken-folk, her incongruent compositions remind us that she is a singer- songwriter for people who don’t like singer-songwriters. Merz presents us with an endearing invitation back into her fragile world, the first one in four years, and it’s a captivating journey through the landscapes of her emotional euphoria and agony - and a further commitment to musical experimentation. Harsh reverberation, gently lulled by sweet musings, offset by poetic and philosophical lyrics, ebb away into blissful ambience not unlike the worlds inhabited by Grouper or Zola Jesus. Drone lullabies to fill up the quiet spaces. Quiet storms filled with ambient atmospheres, densely layered choral drones, and delicate vocals. Like a cocoon, Birds of Passage’s upcoming album The Death of Our Invention, set for an April 6th release on Denovali Records, envelops the listener with its many layers.
Birds of Passage Photo Credit: DominicMerz-ParahiĪfter four years of silence the ambient, minimalist, experimental solo project of New Zealand’s Alicia Merz returns.
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