House and Land - Across the Field

The Guardian 80

(Thrill Jockey)
Electronic experimentalism duels with classic banjo sounds for this ambient, affecting new twist on American folk music

Weird folk is drifting in from America again, from the Appalachians and the Ozarks, bringing with it songs of ravens and rainbow willows, trellised in new arrangements. House and Land are a duo based in North Carolina, fond of free improvisation, minimalism and the power of drones. Multi-instrumentalist Sarah Louise makes solo experimental electronic albums, such as this year’s fantastic Nighttime Birds and Morning Stars, and Sally Anne Morgan has played banjo and fiddle fantastically in bands for years. Now on their second album together, House of Land are weaving intriguing new trails into tradition.

Their sound recalls the early 21st-century psychedelic folk revival initially, their voices clashing and unfurling like ancient field recordings. They are keen scholars too, as seen in their liner notes: their version of Scottish ballad Two Sisters comes from North Carolina’s Artus Moser, featuring unusual, affecting lyrics about a jury hanging over the rosemary. Their musical settings give these songs new shoots. Louise’s guitar imitates patterns from an oscillating modular synthesiser as banjo figures loop round; the effect shows how closely nature and electronics can connect. Her reverb-slathered recorders on Blacksmith and Ca the Yowes occasionally veer into Pan Pipe Moods territory, but generally the ambient miasma gives the songs a magical lift.