Cormorant Tree Oh is Dublin multi-disciplinary artist Mary Keane whose latest album Moonish (her second on Trapped Animal Records) follows 2022's Swoontide and 2018's S/T full-length debut.
Since the aforementioned Swoontide, Keane has been making considerable waves in the music world. Not only has she supported fellow countrymen Lankum at Dublin's legendary Vicar Street venue, but she was also included as part of a curated CD of artists handpicked by said band on the October 2023 edition of Uncut Magazine. The track 'Pareidolia' was featured and she was described by Daragh Lynch as 'class' which bodes well both for my listening experience and review to come.
Its no great surprise that 'Terror of the Countryside' was chosen as a single and I can see where Lynch's Kate Bush's comparisons come in what with the somewhat quirky Vocal Stylings on offer. However unlike Bush who I've frankly always found to be a nails down a chalkboard kind of an artist, there is a charm and distinct lack of pretension on display, no overwrought drama school theatrics here. There's a deliciously John Carpenter Horror score sensibility which offsets perfectly the track's otherwise whimsical nature. The perfect start. 'The Wrong Kind' takes a slightly different turn compared to its more 'flamboyant' predecessor, the breathy Vocals and Gothic Post-Punky atmospherics bringing to mind bands such as Esben and the Witch. As a fan of said band this is obviously a very, very good thing. 'My Tiniest Bones' recalls much missed Birmingham duo Broadcast what with the eerie Psych-Pop and Hauntology elements and one can easily envisage said track being used to accompany any number of Peter Strickland films as well as Mark Jenkins' 2022 experimental Folk Horror film Enys Men. Great filmmaking will always demand great music and this track certainly delivers.
'Throb' is (then) futuristic 80's Synthpop/New Wave melding effortlessly with more organic traditional Folk sounds. I'm not the biggest fan of the latter genre but when its this creative, then I can easily forget the nights of misery stuck in Lancaster pubs listening to the finger in the ear, wooly jumpered tedium I was subjected to. Simply superb. 'Tied And Grinded' features low-key drones as well as quite lovely Dark Ambient sounds added to the mix, sorta like Siouxsie Sioux collaborating with Lustmord. I was also reminded of Manchester's She The Throne, especially last year's sublime Nuntis album. 'To Be Flowers' is exquisite Dark Folk that tonally treads a similar path to artists such as Plum Green, Marissa Nadler and their like while 'Sky is Dead' utilises nature through its use of birdsong and can be said to be the most overtly 'conventional' sounding Folk track on the album, albeit one that manages to still captivate ala Pink Floyd's 'Grantchester Meadows'. 'Rorschach' is interesting, it starts with the Dark Folk of 'To Be Flowers' but the Electronic elements soon put it up there with the finest material that Warp Records has to offer. 'Reedy' is the album's shortest piece at 2:38 and can be viewed as an instrumental seeing as there's no discernable lyrics per say. However this is by no means to its detriment and it does in fact help draw the album to a delightful conclusion.
Folk purists may possibly frown at acts such as Cormorant Tree Oh's willingness to experiment and stretch genre boundaries, however it would be impossible for even hardened gatekeepers to notcrack a smile at the record's inventiveness and beauty. Swoontide may have been a tough act to follow, but not an impossible one, as has been definitively proven here.
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