Emma Lucia and Ship Says Om - Ditt Hjärta (Native Cat) [Folktronica]

Jenny Gillespie Mason has TSMM form, having graced both the blog and playlists previously. She's an artistic soul: whether it's her gentle, occassionally microdosed, folk sounds, her more ambient vocal Ship Says Om project which you have before you, her essay or poem writing, visual art or stewardship of the discerning Native Cat record label - a fine home for similarly-minded artists. There's no doubt that she's a force for creative good, and with some style too.

Emma Lucia is a singer and composer with genes in both the Scandinavian and West Coast pools, and I have to admit something of an unknown quantity to me, but she appears to be following a not dissimilar folktronic path to Mason, and I'm now following her with interest too.

They've been teasing the Djuphjärtad EP for a bit, and to be honest, I was sitting on the fence a little but now I've heard its entirety I'm sold. After becoming acquainted in the Berkeley music, the project melts together Mason's production prowess with Lucia's impressive vocals, it's quite the combination, and a great start to finish listen.

The EP opens with a warm electroacoustic hug and the sounds of our feathered friends, caught I'd like to think, through an open studio window somewhere bucolic. If the studio was an urban affair, the EP is certainly a testament to the pair's Gaian attunement. Guitar, piano, chirps, tweets and a warm machine pulse then coalesce, repeat and gradually build; the perfect pillow for Lucia's daydreamy Swedish sung and hummed vocals. Mason's keen ear for a loop shines again on "Feel Your Eyes"; a simple, sweet piano refrain persuaded to hang around and some guitar minimalism likewise. The hypnotic refrains are then layered with synergistic synths and more choice instrumental samples that sneak in unnoticed through a side door, as Lucia switches language, astrally projecting her voice through the speakers, and somehow summoning a welcome summer storm to clear the air whilst she's at it.

Lucia then decides actions speak louder than words, although she manages to retain those aquatic incantation frequencies, and whilst she adopts the lotus position, Mason elevates her message to the water spirits with some voice-elevating guitar, ambient warmth and barely conscious percussion; it appears the new age movement is as strong and blissful as ever. Last but not least is "Keep Me", the EP's almost indie-folk finale that defies the genre's somewhat generic constraints with a typically late-arriving stoned air, which cements the EPs, warm, woozy, welcoming, new age-infused folktronica and positive vibe - everything might just be alright after all, and hopefully there's more to come from these two.

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Playlist Companion

Find the pair in the Slow Indie-Folk Playlist.