LIARKS – Blush – BRAND NEW CASSETTE TAPE

Beautiful analog recording presented here as a digital single and precursor to the album “Come and Close Your Eyes” (out in 2020 on Lamour Records)

Blush presents two identically titled songs of gorgeous ambient drift. Cascading waves of guitar and rise and fall on side A, later accompanied by trumpet drones and an ever expanding arpeggiated melody beneath the delicate tumult. Side B reveals the minimal and hazy essence of the song as an interlaced set of tones forms an impressionistic melody.

review: Vital Weekly 1339
In Vital Weekly 1242, I reviewed ‘Come And Close Your Eyes’ by Llarks, Chris Jeely’s musical project. This new album is called a ‘digital single’ but has the shape of a cassette here and two sides. Llarks recorded just before the cassette mentioned above and further explored the scenic route of drone music. He takes two different approaches here, both already explored before. ‘Blush’ is the title for both pieces, but they are pretty different. The version on the first side starts with everything pretty much in full gear, but from then keeps developing. Llarks’ guitar is the main ingredient and, so I assume, an army of guitar effects. Slowly, the sound thickens, but Llarks knows how to make sure details don’t get lost in his music. The sustain is now set to ‘endless’ and has a hazy and fuzzy nature, like shoegazing, but then it spans twenty minutes and has no vocals. On the other side, we find a more introspective drone, a slow cycle, if you will. There is repetition, a drone that rocks slowly back and forth. There are minimal changes but no big dramatic climax here. Yet, it is also not static; this is not a robot at work, but maybe that is only in the smaller details. Two sides of the same coin, two further explorations in guitar drone music and another perfect example of Llarks’ musical world; another one can use as an introduction.