Album Review: Annabel (lee) - The Cleansing
There was an enormous amount of mystique surrounding By The Sea…and other solitary places,
the 2015 debut from the enigmatic outfit Annabel (lee.) Over time, however, the
duo responsible for it have slowly brushed away a little bit of that mystery,
culminating in their second effort, The
Cleansing—an affair that finds them stripping away some of the more
ethereal and unsettling elements from their sound, making for a much more
accessible listening experience.
The original conceit of Annabel (lee)’s sound, at least when
speaking of By The Sea was
‘Portishead meets Nick Drake’—a combination that on paper, could either be
really incredible, or a gigantic train wreck. The duo was able to pull it off
almost flawlessly, blending together the early 1990s trip-hop sound with the
melancholic and acoustic folk stylings of Drake and his peers. The Cleansing does away with a majority
of those trip-hop influenced sounds, and focuses itself on more acoustic
arrangements, with the occasional spooky sound tossed in. This drastic change
in dynamics humanizes the album, as well as the two responsible for it.
By The Sea came
off as the kind of album that couldn’t have been made in 2015—it sounded so
ancient and crumbling and haunted, like it was a field recording made in a
graveyard somewhere. In contrast, The
Cleansing does sound like the kind of record that could be made today, in
2017, by the husband and wife team of jazz guitarist Richard Ellis, and his
wife Sheila, an actress and singer.
Before switching gears and becoming acoustically driven, The Cleansing opens within similar territory,
and finds Sheila Ellis delivering a chilling reading of a poem that arrives as
a bit of a response to Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee”—and yes it is his poem
and imagery that the duo has taken its name and inspiration from. Ellis gives a
stirring, haunting performance, with her words floating over the top of a
collage of creeping samples—reminiscent of Broadcast’s work with The Focus
Group.
Built around Richard Ellis’ hypnotic acoustic guitar string
plucking, “Move With Me” is a stellar example of how the duo is able to do so
much with so little—even though they’ve drawn back the curtain and are relying
on less, sonically speaking, what Richard and Sheila have created on The Cleansing is still just as
evocative. “Move With Me” swoons and sways, capturing the listener in its warm
embrace, and even the Bossa Nova influenced “Paris, Room 14” still manages to
slip into ethereal moments as Sheila allows her voice to circle around in a
cavernous echo at different points in the song.
Despite its haunting cover art, and the occasional spooky,
unsettling instance, The Cleansing
is, by all accounts, an ‘autumn’ record—balancing both a fleeting warmth and an
oncoming chill, which the couple work to juxtapose throughout the remainder of
the album by slipping into that eerie cold on the mysterious and menacing titular
track, as well as with the inclusion of sweeping, somber strings on “See
Her”—both songs wind up capturing that tension found from the first record;
while “Far” finds the couple working within a steady acoustic shuffle, settling
into a surprising groove.
The album closes the lengthy, gorgeous, and fittingly titled
“Autumn Requiem,” a song that bridges the gap between both sounds. It’s based
around a rather lush sounding orchestral arrangement that runs throughout,
allowing Sheila Ellis’ voice to effortlessly drift on a layer just above,
creating a truly captivating, otherworldly conclusion.
While it is a surprising follow up to By The Sea, The Cleansing
is also a worthy second outing for Richard and Sheila Ellis. By softening the
duo’s palate, this collection of eight songs is less intimidating (as a whole)
than its predecessor, but it still manages to remain poised between Annabel
(lee)’s two main sonic influences, making for a fascinating and inviting
listen.
The Cleansing is out now, digitally, via Youngbloods; the vinyl edition of the album will begin shipping in November.
The Cleansing is out now, digitally, via Youngbloods; the vinyl edition of the album will begin shipping in November.
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