by Brett Abrahamsen
Few musicians straddle the line between “innocuous” and “nightmarish” the way Cate Kennan does. Her new album Shadows opens with a cryptically titled piece - “The Lone West” - that submerges its prettiness beneath layers of ominous melancholy. The title track follows, introducing her hauntingly beautiful singing and somber, elegiac songwriting. “Moonlight” returns to the esoteric atmosphere of “The Lone West” - lovely on the surface, pained and haunted beneath.
“Reverie” is follows suit of the title track, though with a bit of “The Lone West”’s spookiness. It is, however, slightly weaker than the stunning opening triple salvo. “Romantic Strings” sounds nothing like its title, which is a good thing. This creepy old-time dirge instead sounds like a meeting of Pram and Calexico. “Devil’s Hour” sounds like Tom Waits accompanying a cherubim.
The subdued and ephemeral “So Far Away” - a highlight - envelops the listener in a slow-motion trance. The piece eventually disintegrates into an abstract nightmare. This lengthier composition has a psychological effect that some of the more abrupt vignettes do not. The opening to “Calling” stands as one of the album’s most uncanny moments. It’s an obtuse and deliberately ugly way to close what is otherwise a beautiful record. Even Kennan’s vocals on this track sound somewhat lifeless, perhaps intentionally so.
This album is arguably one of the masterpieces of the decade so far. Kennan is original, but influenced by Roy Montgomery, Grouper, and Julia Holter. If Kennan continues to make this sort of music, one could picture accumulating a discography that stands with the aforementioned greats. Cate Kennan has already established herself as one of the most intriguing musicians of her generation, one of the few to explore the language of dreams and the subconscious.