Peppermoth – The Second Bird

LABEL: Peppermoth

TRACK LIST

  1. Bloom
  2. Treasure Hunter
  3. Metranatomy
  4. The King is Dead
  5. Accompany Me
  6. Me Then You
  7. Ballet Of The Stars
  8. Here’s Where We Begin
  9. Yellowstone

ABOUT THIS RELEASE

Release Date: January 24, 2020

“The second bird represents (the) conscious testimony in us. It’s the ability to observe the life that’s going on and the activities going on, but it’s not doing anything…” (Mooji)

Inspired by this simple contemplation, ambient artist Peppermoth presents The Second Bird, a sprawling suite of instrumentals bathed in neo-classical, electronica, dub, improv and impressionist influences. It continues Peppermoth creator and Canadian producer Andrew McPherson’s guiding mandate for the project, which is to ensure the music allows space for the listener to act as a second bird, if you will – a no man’s land where a listener’s creative responses are consciously or unconsciously superimposed onto the pieces as a kind of co-creator.

Against the backdrop of winter, The Second Bird evolved from hours of improvised recordings and an unhurried but decisive mindset, enriched further by the arrival of a 40 year old, analog mixing desk that breathed new life into the recording/mixing process. Piano and guitar remain at the heart of Peppermoth’s sound but Andrew’s deep love of inspired sonics insured collaborations were also encouraged. Returning is trumpeter Gary Diggins (R. Murray Schafer), double bassist Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies, Natalie Merchant), alongside Les Hartai (Eccodek) on modular synths and newcomer Adam Bowman (Alysha Brilla, Elise LeGrow) playing Handsonic.

Like previous Peppermoth releases, The Second Bird explores a rich terrain of style and fusion. ‘Ballet of the Stars’ and ‘Treasure Hunter’ layer Byrds-soaked guitar melodies over shape-shifting modulations and dubwise tape effects, while impressionist piano anthems pollinate in ‘Me then You’ and ‘The King is Dead’. Album bookends ‘Bloom’ and ‘Here’s where we begin’/’Yellowstone’ build weightless tapestries of sound out of shards of melody, bass drones and the escaping breath of bamboo flute. The Second Bird explores more obvious use of rhythm than in previous releases with ‘Metranatomy’s’ skittering, electro-chatter and trance bass and ‘Treasure Hunter’s’ soul shuffle that appears in the track’s closing.

Andrew’s countless productions include Vieux Farka Touré, Jane Siberry, Desert Dwellers, EarthRise SoundSystem, Delhi2Dublin, Transglobal Underground, Dub Colossus and Eccodek, Andrew’s twice Juno-nominated (Canada’s Grammy’s) global dub fusion project, heard on Real World, Six Degrees Records, White Swan/Black Swan, Buddha Bar, Modiba and Black Swan.

ABOUT PEPPERMOTH

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