Beatings Are In The Body
For The Living And The Dead, 2023
9/10
Listen to Beatings Are In The Body
An all star assembly of 3 of Canada’s best in the area of experimental music, Erika Angell, Róisin Adams and Peggy Lee come together as Beatings Are In The Body.
Adams’ warm piano and Lee’s mature cello opens the listen alongside Angell’s poetic and soft singing and talking that guides the cautious climate of “Blurry”, and “Trip Loop” follows with playful electronic tinkering and processed voices that pair the synthetic exploration with organic beauty.
“Rhiza” lands in the middle and recruits wordless vocal gestures with seemingly random ‘found object’ noises with much allure, while “Unfetter” showcases the firm piano amid Angell’s powerful, soaring pipes.
The best track, “Mermaid”, arrives near the end, and emits much calm, absorbing song craft thanks to the expressive singing, delicate keys and twinkling strings, and “I Don’t Want What She Has” exits with a stunning intimacy that makes an indelible impression.
All the players here have esteemed resumes, and together their collective skill makes for an abstract, eloquent and acoustic fueled first album that resonates with a unique and improvised spirit that you could never listen to just once.
Travels well with: Stranger Still- The Songs Still Are; Joseph Petric- Seen