Review: High Places

After receiving excellent reviews and modest success for their singles collection 03/07 – 09/07 earlier this year, Brooklyn Duo High Places have now released their full-length debut. The self-titled album focuses on Rob Barber’s earthy polyrhythmic soundscapes brought to life by the warm and fluid vocals of Mary Pearson and is best appreciated through large headphones, only then can all of the spacious patchwork of the worldly (sometime otherworldly) textures and flowing melodies be fully taken in. Barber uses a wide array of natural and synthetic samples in the music and the textures created are reminiscent bands such as Animal Collective or Dirty Projectors.

The first single on the album opens with the lyric: ‘From small speck of stardust to wondrously sentient revolving and spinning in space’, a sentiment that seems incredibly apt for an album that is fascinatingly hypnotic and can leave your head spinning. Unsurprisingly, High Places is being released by Thrill Jockey and is easily in fitting with their avant-garde history as the legendary label who brought us bands such as Tortoise, ADULT, and Boredoms.

It is obvious from the outset that this is a complete album work and not a collection of standalone singles, although a couple of tracks stand out as the definite highlights. Vision’s The First… is the cornerstone of the album, boasting a tribal drumbeat and a fluttering and synthetic intro that enhances the pop sensibilities of the song. Pearson’s vocals are very prominent in the track and the melody is short and memorable, making this one of the most accessible songs on the album. The second significant highlight is the band’s first single and the concluding track, From Stardust To Sentience, which brings the album to a gratifying close with a delicate and effervescent atmosphere, trance inducing drum loops and lullaby vocals.

The remainder of the album ebbs and flows from song to song as seamlessly as Pearson’s vocals glide between the layers of sampled bongos, guitars and cutlery and crockery (recorded in their own Brooklyn flat). From the clanking rhythms of The Storm to the crystalline tapestry of the instrumental track Papaya Year, the album maintains a definite sense of continuity and purpose. High Places have created an incredibly intricate, worldly and sophisticated album, which reveals something more of itself with every listen.