Hana Stretton - tiarn (brierfield flood press / Lima Limo) [Ambient]

*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's August 16th Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***

After recommending Helen Franzmann and Nick Huggins’ - public holiday at you yangs regional park album in the last newsletter; praising its “songs saturated in field recordings that bring oft-ignored ambient sound, whether natural or urban, to the fore and to your attention“ along comes another great “ambient folk” album, this time from Hana Stretton which ploughs a similar furrow, and when I checked the credits, it features the voice of Nick Huggins - amongst others, so it appears there’s something of an Australian micro-scene going on. The world of quality, alternative music is a small and often supportive place - long live the underground.

The album opens with the sounds of life’s unremarkable events, before a distant accordion wheezes into life and starts to slowly approach the microphone as the field recordings of all descriptions, not to mention some operatic endeavour - possibly from an old recording, rise to meet the occasion. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better album intro this year. But fear not, this is no folk rock theatre, and despite the assorted vocals, pipes, violin, cello and outsider choral work from the supporting cast, the album then proceeds on more even keel. Next up, “Salt” evolves a strange rhythmic pulse to usher Stretton’s competition with the looped backing vocals to see who has the softest tones, an approach which obviously found favour with the local fauna the other side of the open window who chime in too. More vocal looping and a foot-stomped rhythm then guide the building strings towards its opiated hoe-down conclusion.

The album then follows a meandering course, probably better explored than read about, but trust me, it’s a constantly surprising listen. Some of the vocal passages having a vague gospel quality, and the eminently listenable avant-production a faint blues echo whether real or imagined, possibly due to the 78prm shellac sonic aesthetic. Couple that with the operatic infusion - possibly the least black music you can find, the field recordings that might have sounded tired and detached in more traditional ambient work, but which here are a living, breathing part of the compositions, the cobbled-together percussion, Stretton popping up when she feels the urge to sing in varying styles, and you have an LP of genuine avant-ambient-folk wonder.

If you're feeling this album then you should check out Seaworthy & Matt Rösner's Deep Valley album for 12K. It's another Australian masterclass in blending electroacoustic ambient sounds with field recordings.

---

Playlist Companion

Find Stretton in the Slow Folk Playlist.