Evangelista - In Animal Tongue

Evangelista - In Animal Tongue
Constellation




New York City-born and Los Angeles-based vocalist Carla Bozulich's project's newest release, In Animal Tongue, came across as a bit spooky at first listen, but for me that's a good thing. The opening track, "Artificial Lamb," strides along with a simplistic guitar riff that is greeted with Bozulich's emotionally crushing, yet enchantingly strained lyrical laments. Soon after, coupled with a slow and steady bass line, atmospheric experimentation comes into play via electronic sounds.

Much of the rest of the album follows a similar style with Bozulich's singing as the focal point. From time to time other instruments like violins will make an appearance, usually providing an avant-garde backdrop to the band's minimalistic tone.

My favourite track is "Die Alone," which starts off with an echoing chant and is followed by hypnotically sporadic bell chimes. In this song, Bozulich's howling comes out a bit more soulfully, and softly clamours through the verses that interlude between moments of a low, dark and almost industrial beat.

The last track, "Hatching," finishes off the album nicely with a more uptempo hippie voodoo jam with plenty of electronic splattering thrown in the mix. If you're a fan of Michael Gira, you will probably dig this.

In Animal Tongue - EVANGELISTA by Constellation Records

Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials

Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
Island Records




The primary description that comes to mind when I listen through this record is spiritual envigoration. The intensity of emotion that singer Florence Welch conveys teeters on the robust extacy of expressed sincerity, as the music this band creates tends to reveal itself as a memorandum of inspirational anthems to soothe, awaken and energize the soul. Not only are the songs comforting, they are also addictively catchy, lending to the credence of their rising popularity.

Compared to the last album, this one has a tad bit of a fuller soundscape and some moments of spooky mysticism with tracks like Seven Devils and Bedroom Hymns. Also, the album is definitely dance-worthy; maybe not in the nightclub or weekend party sense, but dramatic flailing, pausing and contorting feels encouraged.