Ginkgo
Whatever’s Clever, 2022
8/10
The 3rd album from Benedict Kupstas, as Field Guides the multi-instrumentalist pens serious songs that defy classification but revolve somewhere around modern-folk, dream-pop and even hints of country, and are never short on ambience.
“Judes At The Delaware Water Gap (A Prelude)” opens the listen with soothing strings, light guitar and very soft singing in the hazy, atmospheric indie-folk climate, and “Salmon Skin” follows with playfully plucked guitar alongside poetic singing and bouts of soulful sax that populate the cautious landscape.
Further down the line, “Cicadas In The Lemon Trees” benefits much from light drumming amid the smooth singing and dreamy backing vocals in the album’s best, while “The City Is A Painting” brings electric guitar and a fuller display to the more folk-rock demeanor.
Near to the end, “Margaret” is full of hushed beauty with some percussive twinkling, and “When I Pulled Slivers From Your Feet” exits the listen with textured, mesmerizing quality that blends much restraint and adventurousness.
Kupstas brings along members of The War On Drugs, Beverly, Adeline Hotel and Stars Like Fleas, among others, and it makes for a pensive affair that’s lyrically all substance (themes include Greek Mythology, the Bible, Emily Dickinson) and musically exploratory in its tranquil artistry.
Travels well with: Jason Molina- Eight Gates; Ben De La Cour- Shadow Land