Spires that in the Sunset Rise — Four Winds the Walker
Four Winds the Walker is their second album from 2005 that managers to conjure up it’s own original, strange and bent other sonic world, with them not really sounding like anyone else. The four build their strange acid tinged mix of from a mixture of Drums, Percussion, Kalimba [Mbira], Piano, Tambourine Banjo, Harmonium Guitar, Zither, Autoharp Fiddle & Organ. With three of the four members singing, which goes from American indie shrill ,to tripped-out folky, to deranged muilt-layered siren like, soothing and psychedelic angelic, to theatrical and unhinged. Through-out the albums just over hour running-time the four manage to carve out this very distinct sonic world that goes from being frightening & strange, to haunting and beautiful, to dense and psychedelic. The sound is often very dense mix of picked string matter, sawing odd angled string work, weird percussive matter and vocal moments, but there are the odd dips into quieter less tripped out moments.
It’s near on impossible to pick highlights from the 14 tracks here as there each as strange, unhinged, atmospheric and often beautiful/ haunted as each other and I think to pick through the sonic bones of the tracks would rather ruin the albums effect. Truly Four Winds the Walker is one of the most distinct other sounding records you’ll ever hear- so step inside it’s sonic portal and fall like Alice down the rabbit hole into Spires that in the Sunset Rise weird and wonderful world.