Divine Intervention. I was struggling this week, to be honest. I was listening to so many albums, trying to pick our LP of the week but it just wasn’t happening. Don’t get me wrong, there were some really good music as usual, but nothing was standing out. I gave up for a while, stuck on David Sylvian’s “Late Night Shopping” and this email arrived from Maris. “On Gods and other Things” (RAT records) is her debut album and the similarities to the spirit of a Sylvian recording struck me immediately. Maris is the solo project of New York-based Belgian singer Mariske Broeckmeyer. The album was recorded in Iceland, It’s a trip, wildly experimental, a sonic jigsaw and full of wonder, at only 30 minutes long it reveals something new with each listen, an onion peeling, a Matryoshka doll.
Mariske herself says “My head tends to forest itself with questions. Wonder derived from observations on this world. Intrigued by our timeless need for Gods and Things. Creating tiny universes in which their relationship shifts constantly. A Whisper-shout of little question songs, guided by a rille, that ́s only there by accident. Or is it not?” Now my head has never been forested with questions so I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing but let’s assume the former! Her influences: Mariam Wallentin, Jenny Hval, Mats Gustafsson, David Sylvian and Ben Frost so I reckon she has impeccable taste. Here it is – it’s well worth your time.
Video for “How’s Things” by Aimee Odum
Black and white pictures by Olympe Tits
super world indie tunes 