New Hermitage
Unearth
SCORE: 9
by Sebastián Franco
Unearth is a great collection of improvisational pieces that give shape to a solid album in which no track is wasted. New Hermitage manage to find spaces that surprise as the album progresses and they do so in the most refined way possible.
New Hermitage is a contemporary music quartet native to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This ensemble has just released what comprises their 5th studio album, Unearth, a work that is situated between free improvisation and sound expressions that are tied to spontaneity and the conjunction of four synchronized minds. Dissonance and instrumental battles prevail; however, they manage to find clear spaces allowing a glimpse of melodious cuts while the quartet seeks to find new phrases to rely on.
In the first piece of the album, “Boiling Off, Collecting Vapors” the ensemble opens with a sense of passivity that, as the piece progresses, is juxtaposed to the sound of disruptive lines traced by the strings, but it never goes off the rails; instead, it incorporates an almost magical notion that haunts the entire track.
Another cut that stands out and displays the unpredictable nature of this album is "Moss | Rust", which brings a peaceful air that lingers throughout the album. An almost introspective exhalation that never strays from Unearth’s overall tone, where the strings seem to run among an open field while time slowly freezes as the track advances.
"Stalkers" and "In Amber" are clear examples of the quartet’s versatility. These two tracks sound like the could have been recorded inside a bottomless pit, giving off a claustrophobic, but friendly sensation, making us feel insignificant as we are faced with such immense sound. Atonal by nature, the pieces do not decay, but instead plunge into a precious and lethargic -almost meditative- mystical journey in which the instruments seem to be keeping sacred secrets.
Unearth is a great collection of improvisational pieces, a bastion of sound arrangements that inspire to imagine parallel universes. This is a concrete and solid album that does not become tedious at any moment; on the contrary, it takes its time to surprise as it progresses and does so in the most refined way possible, which is probably when the ensemble shines the most. With its cyclical sound encounters, instrumentation with disruptive tonalities, and spaces that are confined between silence and almost restrained melodies, this album is an unmissable release.
