Album Review: Annabel (lee) - By The Sea...and other solitary places

So this record as been out for a minute—since Record Store Day in fact, but I only recently read about it online, and I’ll admit that, aside from the RIYL description—namechecking Portishead usually piques my interest—that I downloaded a copy purely based on the artist’s name: Annabel (lee.)

You see, our rabbit’s name is Annabell. And I thought, well, is this the kind of album that she would make if she were a musical rabbit?

Based on how atmospheric and unsettling Annabel (lee)’s debut album is, the answer is probably no. It’s the kind of record that, if played over the stereo in the house, would probably result in some thumps and some hiding on the part of Annabell the rabbit. She has a very sensitive palate when it comes to music—you know, because of her ears, and everything…

By The Sea…and other solitary places is a song cycled based around the work of Edgar Allan Poe, and the people responsible for it—jazz and soul vocalist Annabel and multi-instrumentalist Richard E, have been working together for a number of years now, honing their early downtempo and “chill out” sound into something much more menacing and atmospheric.

The interesting thing about By The Sea is that, according to press materials for it, was that it was completed independently and turned into the head of If Music for consideration to be released—the result is a co-sign between the legendary UK electronic label Ninja Tune, and record shop If Music.

To say that this is an impressive debut record is an understatement. A search for Annabel (lee) in iTunes will reveal a few singles from the mid 2000s, showing that the duo really took their time to grow into this sound, and wanted to get it right the first time—the vibe of the songs, the production values, and right down to the spooky cover art.

Owing much the downtempo scene and innovative trip hop movement that came 20+ years before it, By The Sea is the kind of album that could been created in 1994. It has that “ahead of its time” sound to it, due to the fact that it combines just so many sounds and styles. So that, in 2015, it sounds timeless—but also refreshing—since I believe that there are no artists, if very few, making music that sounds like this.

Singer Annabel Lee’s haunted, other worldly voice conjures up the very best soul and jazz performers of a time long forgotten, and it fits in perfectly with the mysterious and unnerving music that her partner in crime has created. There’s the swirling acoustic and string loops of the opening track, “Breath Us,” which then leads into even more swirling loops—the trance like “I Will Lead Us,” which calls to mind some of the work of Broadcast in its balance of both whimsy and discomfort with the dissonance it creates.

There’s no real “single” to pick out from the bunch on By The Sea. As it is a concept album, it works best when taken as a whole. However, the most accessible tracks as far as a casual listen from someone with a passing interest in “weird” music are “Breath Us,” which as the most trip hop vibe to it, and “(1849),” which originally appeared in an earlier former as a single the duo released six years ago.

The cover art to By The Sea really sums up the record and the listening experience that comes out of it—it’s like a warped trip into the past. Imagine putting on an old Billie Holiday or Nina Simone record, and then falling asleep and having a nightmare directed by David Lynch and written by the guy that wrote House of Leaves—that’s the kind of feeling this thing evokes. It’s an unsettling and complex listen; but worth the trip because it is so remarkable in just how fully developed it is considering that it is the debut full length from the duo, really showing how much time they took to find the juxtaposition between the beautiful, the somber, and the haunted that By The Sea practically flawlessly treads.

By The Sea...and other solitary places, is out now via Ninja Tune/If Music.