Andria Degens? voice is sometimes heard as part of Current 93, but here she?s collaborating with that altogether more bucolic partnership of Michael Tanner and Nick Palmer (Plinth, Directoround etc), The pieces here were recorded in Dorset and East Sussex, England, during the summer of 2007 and breathe an idyllic air of the summers of our imagination which, in the U.K. at any rate, seldom become reality!
A short instrumental called The Warming is the first of four tracks and it features Michael Tanner?s vibraphone, almost as a scene-setter to what follows. Dance Of The Honey Bees has wordless vocals, guitar and handclaps and although Sing Night Swallow ? third on the disc - clearly has words, it is the sound of Degens voice which conveys meaning, rather than lyric content. Here, the harmonium sounds as though it?s played through a cyclic Leslie effect, is quite hypnotic and stands as my personal favourite song of the set.
On the closing title track (which does have audible words), a most unusual and lovely instrument surfaces. The dulcitone is a bit like a small version of the celeste, where keyboard action strikes tuning forks. Its chiming tones only add to what is already an utterly charming e.p. 8/10 --
John Cavanagh (9 September, 2008)