Northumbria

Toronto-based experimental drone duo Northumbria have created something extraordinary. Calling on guests like Theologian and Famine to alter their signature eerie drone, the remixes enhance and heighten each track's tension without drowning out the meticulously crafted structures or cutting out the emotional core. Listening to All Days Begin As Night is bearing witness to a process of unfolding, as layers of sound gradually accrete on top of and around each other, becoming woven into a dense and vibrating aural tapestry. While it is easy for drone or shoegaze to become cold, disembodied explorations of space and sonic texture, this record offers a profoundly intimate experience — from the sonorous low-end that seems to dip deep into the body cavity, to the prickling feedback that raises gooseflesh. Opener "Lux Lunae" stretches ever upward, while the bleak and blackened quality of "Black Sea of Trees" both batters and caresses. The depth of loneliness, the architectural grandness, and the sheer emotional power of this record make it something rare.