Your biweekly submersion into new and experimental music.
With the conclusion of the exceptional New History for Modern Warfare albums, Colin Stetson has turned to fellow session musician Sarah Neufeld for his next endeavor. Neufold’s most notable work includes her role as the main violinist in Arcade Fire as well as various projects in which she and Stetson played together.
On debut release Never were the way she was, the duo bring their respective instruments to introduce what Constellation Records calls the “metaphorical narrative of the life of a girl who ages slow as mountains; excited, exalted, and ultimately exiled in her search for a world that resembles her experience.”
The idea of the concept album isn’t exactly out of reach for the two when you consider Stetson’s ability to conjure the image of a lumbering behemoth on “To see more light” and Neufold’s harrowing and emotive solo work on tracks like “Hero Brother”. “The sun roars into view” is our first taste from the duo and begins with the polyrhythmic interplay of both instruments. Stetson, once based in the deep timbres of sax, now portrays a delicate sound – a frailty not otherwise present in his previous work. Together, the two form an incredibly moving combination that’s equal parts catharsis and soul destroying beauty.
Never were the way she was is out on April 28 through Constellation Records.
