On What Mountain, Anna Mayberry (HSY) and David Psutka (Egpyptrixx) continue to craft the ambient electro-folk that put Anamai on the map with their 2015 record Sallows. Their new record doesn't quite conjure the same beguiling magic as their debut, but it's solid nonetheless.
Anamai have hidden their best track at the end of this record; "Sun Saw" is languid but patient, with Mayberry intoning quasi-cosmic poetry underpinned by distorted bass guitar and framed by refrains of slightly discordant vocal chords.
The delicate fingerpicking and intimate vocals on "Crossing" would make it another highlight, but an incongruous storm of low end drones swirling below is too overbearing. The same is true on the following track, "Hailstorm." What Mountain is less successful when these atmospheric electronics move into the foreground, rather than providing subtle colour to support Mayberry's voice. The exception is, of course, on What Mountain's four instrumental cuts, where Mayberry and Psutka deploy reverb-heavy synths and brooding guitars with highly satisfying results.
(Halocline Trance)Anamai have hidden their best track at the end of this record; "Sun Saw" is languid but patient, with Mayberry intoning quasi-cosmic poetry underpinned by distorted bass guitar and framed by refrains of slightly discordant vocal chords.
The delicate fingerpicking and intimate vocals on "Crossing" would make it another highlight, but an incongruous storm of low end drones swirling below is too overbearing. The same is true on the following track, "Hailstorm." What Mountain is less successful when these atmospheric electronics move into the foreground, rather than providing subtle colour to support Mayberry's voice. The exception is, of course, on What Mountain's four instrumental cuts, where Mayberry and Psutka deploy reverb-heavy synths and brooding guitars with highly satisfying results.