23 Treads — The Ornaments( The Ghost Of Miranda)
This late 2017 CD release on Poland’s premier experimental label Zoharum offers up nine new tracks from the project. These tracks take in the band's trademark sound of stripped-back ‘n’ repetitive guitar & theatrical creepy spoken female vocals, and adds in more subtle angular & unsettling edges- all to create an album that squarely grabs your attention with it’s wordy & darkly wonky unfold.
On the whole I’d say this album feels slightly more nightmarish, and wonky psychedelic than Conspicuous Unobstructed Path did - as the three-piece have managed(for the most part) to create song-craft that is both barrenly tolling, more subtle detailed with experimental touches, with the use of often layered & subtle effect ribbed vocals from the bands singer Ingrid Swen. I’d say that the first three quarters of the album kept me total fixed in its wonderful angular & atmospherically unbalancing charm- it’s just the last few tracks that broke the spell & my interest somewhat, with their slightly brighter & buoyant indie folk-rock leanings & more bland electro beat touches.
The album opens with “On The Darkest Night”- this finds a hypnotic & unsettling blend of locked churning- yet barrenly angular guitar hits. Wondering & wonky ambient horn ebbs, and Swen’s voice eerily bouncing & circling its self in dizzying & labyrinth manner. Later on “Embrace The Stone” finds a taut mix of chiming & taut guitar motifs, drifting with sour washes of beat-less electronica, and watery robotic vocals. Or we have the off-angular strum & wail of “An Abyss” with Swen’s ranting & talking in a unbalance showy manner- over barebones acoustic strum & un-well spacey ambiance.
For much of its runtime, The Ornaments( The Ghost Of Miranda) is both unbalancing & unsettling in it unfold- it’s just a pity the last few tracks broken the spell somewhat for me. But don’t let that put you off- if you miss the days when Neo-Folk was more daring, edgy & creative this is certainly an album you’ll get joy from.