Martha Skye Murphy and Maxwell Sterling
Distance On Ground
Martha Skye Murphy and Maxwell Sterling
Distance On Ground
Boomkat Product Review:
Postmodern minimalist Maxwell Sterling teams up with young Nick Cave protege Martha Skye Murphy for a bewitching debut of windswept lowercase art pop - all beatless textures and spine-chilling vocal acrobatics. Somewhere between Philip Glass, Julee Cruise, Deaf Center and Antonina Nowacka.
In 2009, when she was just nine years old, Londoner Martha Skye Murphy was asked to contribute vocals to Nick Cave's score for 'The Proposition'. Since then, Cave has helped guide her progress, which blossomed into a one-woman show (Two Body Problem) and last year's Kate Bush-influenced 'Concrete' EP. Murphy'swordless sounds levitate across 'Distance on Ground', hovering over carefully manicured backdrops courtesy of Maxwell Sterling, who appears fresh from last year's ornate "Turn of Phrase" full-length.
Sterling is at his best working in longer form, structuring his signature gestures into two extended soundscapes. Murphy's vocals are bottled and thrown into whirlpools of reverb on the evocative '86 km', interrupted by sharp edits, bass plucks and drone thickets. It's this role fluidity that gives 'Distance on Ground' its backbone, showcasing two artists allowing each other to experiment with tone, form and color.
The second half of the album, '93.3 km' begins with a more recognizable song structure, with Murphy gently lavishing vocal tones over double-tracked fingerpicking. There's the ghost of folk music that flickers into the studio process, disturbed by unexpected diegetic recordings and industrial groans. Soon, all traces of structure disappear, leaving metallic creaks and spirit calls overdriven like radio static in a forgotten David Lynch short. Gloriously evocative, and playfully cinematic without resorting to trickery, 'Distance on Ground' is a decisive debut from two outsized talents.
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Boomkat Product Review:
Postmodern minimalist Maxwell Sterling teams up with young Nick Cave protege Martha Skye Murphy for a bewitching debut of windswept lowercase art pop - all beatless textures and spine-chilling vocal acrobatics. Somewhere between Philip Glass, Julee Cruise, Deaf Center and Antonina Nowacka.
In 2009, when she was just nine years old, Londoner Martha Skye Murphy was asked to contribute vocals to Nick Cave's score for 'The Proposition'. Since then, Cave has helped guide her progress, which blossomed into a one-woman show (Two Body Problem) and last year's Kate Bush-influenced 'Concrete' EP. Murphy'swordless sounds levitate across 'Distance on Ground', hovering over carefully manicured backdrops courtesy of Maxwell Sterling, who appears fresh from last year's ornate "Turn of Phrase" full-length.
Sterling is at his best working in longer form, structuring his signature gestures into two extended soundscapes. Murphy's vocals are bottled and thrown into whirlpools of reverb on the evocative '86 km', interrupted by sharp edits, bass plucks and drone thickets. It's this role fluidity that gives 'Distance on Ground' its backbone, showcasing two artists allowing each other to experiment with tone, form and color.
The second half of the album, '93.3 km' begins with a more recognizable song structure, with Murphy gently lavishing vocal tones over double-tracked fingerpicking. There's the ghost of folk music that flickers into the studio process, disturbed by unexpected diegetic recordings and industrial groans. Soon, all traces of structure disappear, leaving metallic creaks and spirit calls overdriven like radio static in a forgotten David Lynch short. Gloriously evocative, and playfully cinematic without resorting to trickery, 'Distance on Ground' is a decisive debut from two outsized talents.
Boomkat Product Review:
Postmodern minimalist Maxwell Sterling teams up with young Nick Cave protege Martha Skye Murphy for a bewitching debut of windswept lowercase art pop - all beatless textures and spine-chilling vocal acrobatics. Somewhere between Philip Glass, Julee Cruise, Deaf Center and Antonina Nowacka.
In 2009, when she was just nine years old, Londoner Martha Skye Murphy was asked to contribute vocals to Nick Cave's score for 'The Proposition'. Since then, Cave has helped guide her progress, which blossomed into a one-woman show (Two Body Problem) and last year's Kate Bush-influenced 'Concrete' EP. Murphy'swordless sounds levitate across 'Distance on Ground', hovering over carefully manicured backdrops courtesy of Maxwell Sterling, who appears fresh from last year's ornate "Turn of Phrase" full-length.
Sterling is at his best working in longer form, structuring his signature gestures into two extended soundscapes. Murphy's vocals are bottled and thrown into whirlpools of reverb on the evocative '86 km', interrupted by sharp edits, bass plucks and drone thickets. It's this role fluidity that gives 'Distance on Ground' its backbone, showcasing two artists allowing each other to experiment with tone, form and color.
The second half of the album, '93.3 km' begins with a more recognizable song structure, with Murphy gently lavishing vocal tones over double-tracked fingerpicking. There's the ghost of folk music that flickers into the studio process, disturbed by unexpected diegetic recordings and industrial groans. Soon, all traces of structure disappear, leaving metallic creaks and spirit calls overdriven like radio static in a forgotten David Lynch short. Gloriously evocative, and playfully cinematic without resorting to trickery, 'Distance on Ground' is a decisive debut from two outsized talents.
Boomkat Product Review:
Postmodern minimalist Maxwell Sterling teams up with young Nick Cave protege Martha Skye Murphy for a bewitching debut of windswept lowercase art pop - all beatless textures and spine-chilling vocal acrobatics. Somewhere between Philip Glass, Julee Cruise, Deaf Center and Antonina Nowacka.
In 2009, when she was just nine years old, Londoner Martha Skye Murphy was asked to contribute vocals to Nick Cave's score for 'The Proposition'. Since then, Cave has helped guide her progress, which blossomed into a one-woman show (Two Body Problem) and last year's Kate Bush-influenced 'Concrete' EP. Murphy'swordless sounds levitate across 'Distance on Ground', hovering over carefully manicured backdrops courtesy of Maxwell Sterling, who appears fresh from last year's ornate "Turn of Phrase" full-length.
Sterling is at his best working in longer form, structuring his signature gestures into two extended soundscapes. Murphy's vocals are bottled and thrown into whirlpools of reverb on the evocative '86 km', interrupted by sharp edits, bass plucks and drone thickets. It's this role fluidity that gives 'Distance on Ground' its backbone, showcasing two artists allowing each other to experiment with tone, form and color.
The second half of the album, '93.3 km' begins with a more recognizable song structure, with Murphy gently lavishing vocal tones over double-tracked fingerpicking. There's the ghost of folk music that flickers into the studio process, disturbed by unexpected diegetic recordings and industrial groans. Soon, all traces of structure disappear, leaving metallic creaks and spirit calls overdriven like radio static in a forgotten David Lynch short. Gloriously evocative, and playfully cinematic without resorting to trickery, 'Distance on Ground' is a decisive debut from two outsized talents.
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