Kairos by White Hinterland
7th August 2010 – 3.37 pmOr Music of 2010, part one (continued).
Casey Dienel's dreamy vocals open White Hinterland's second album Kairos. The soaring calls of Icarus echo before being repeated over a thumping drum and pulsing bass rhythm, creating a different dynamic to the piano-based folk music of previous works. The juxtaposition of soft, comforting vocals against more stripped-down and heavier music than normal works remarkably well for White Hinterland. And the changes continue in to second track Moon Jam.
Where Icarus introduces the new White Hinterland, with Moon Jam the drum track gets more mechanical and a synthesiser drones around a riff as Casey crafts amazing vocals above it all, pulling us deeper in to the glorious marriage of styles. There is a keen ear at work, not just understanding how best to combine the different sounds but also understanding how to use the dynamics. The full power of the song comes not when all the instruments are playing but when they are removed for the bridge. Hearing Casey sing 'life without a moon and stars/is no life at all' fully in the foreground and with her wonderful choice of pauses makes me tingle every time.
Icarus and Moon Jam are amazing songs by themselves, but they also peform a valuable service to the listener. By the time we come to third track No Logic the combination of a deep bass rhythm, odd percussive effects, and powerful yet soft vocals seems perfectly natural. Now we can sail through the fabulous Begin Again and Bow and Arrow fully immersed in White Hinterland's world, revelling in all the looped vocals and unusual background sounds.
Then the distinctive beat of Amsterdam kicks in, giving a couple of bars to prepare for Casey's vocals. It is such a simple song and fairly short, only two verses and a repeated chorus, but the real joy is how the song ends. The music is stripped down as far is it can go without disappearing, then whispered much more quietly than the rest of the song. The intimacy of the outro is made more poignant by the final lines of the chorus, 'what were you trying to tell me?/I could not make it out', almost begging us to listen more closely to hear the secret. And it's worth being somewhere quiet to hear Casey's beautiful refrain.
Kairos still has four tracks left and after the layers of looped vocals of Thunderbird the more traditional and soothing Cataract embraces us. The song is delightful enough to start with but at the turn we get another wonderful refrain. It is difficult to be repetitive without becoming boring but Casey manages it almost effortlessly here. The same lyric is sung with just enough changes to keep it interesting but few enough to make it emotionally charged, whilst expertly gauged pauses in the music punctuate the passage, gradually fading in to noise antithetically to the lyrics in a way that accentuates the message.
Huron keeps the music emotionally engaging, more layered vocals almost haunting the song by the end, before the album closes with Magnolias. I was looking forwards to Kairos when I heard that White Hinterland had a new album due, but I never quite expected it to be so different and with it so powerful. Even with a more minimal sound there is so much to listen to and be drawn in to, and Casey Dienel's vocal and musical talent remains extraordinary. I have been listening to the album regularly since its release a few months ago and I am still finding new depth to it. Kairos is a beautiful album.
5 Responses to “Kairos by White Hinterland”
Bought it. Loved it.
Woo!
You are my dreamy girl-pop pimp :-)
Aww, I haven't been called dreamy in ages.
Kairos lyrics reproduced with permission
Icarus
Let the sun rain down on me
'Til covered in dew
All pink and new and newborn
Cut past the grey and countless forms
Condemned to kill or be conquered
Slender as a carp you are
Your skin defiantly silver and so sure
As for me, I am not so sure
I watch you skate like a knife
Beneath the water
Though I can see clearly what's ahead of me
I cannot stop it once I'm set a-spinning
What can it mean, why must I always see
The ending at the beginning?
Together going arm and arm
To meet our solitude, to meet it head on
I'll meet you where the water's warm
To meet my solitude, to meet it head on
Though I can see clearly ahead of me
I cannot stop it once I'm set a-spinning
What can it mean? Why must I always see
The ending at the beginning?
Moon Jam
I went swimming in a black and silent sea
While I was between
Waking and dreaming
In my mind a knot was gathering
I am afraid of so many things
& I cannot control myself
The water moved around me
Like a cloud of ink
'Til I came upon a lake
The sun has never seen
& I cannot control myself
The fish went wild
Their eyes aglow and seeking heat
Like shards of glass
flitting on past me in the lake below
Life without a moon and stars
Is no life at all
I am afraid of so many things
I am afraid of many things
But I do not fear the future
What lies ahead is between
me and the universe
No Logic
There is no logic
No reason
No logic at all
To keep holding on
To the hope
You'll turn into
The man I thought you were
I can't sit still
I can't stay in one place too long
Are you comfortable? Are you comfortable?
I'm moving along
Your voice, though stentorian
cannot hide the shadow of a doubt
Your thoughts may seem golden now
give them time, time to sort them out
How do you know the name
the name of the one you love?
the name of the one you love?
what does it feel like?
can it make a sound?
What does it sound like?
Begin Again
I have seen the sun at dawn
Glisten like a marble
I have seen the golden light
That your love has to offer
I can feel the strength of your power
Through the prism of you laughter
There is so much that I have to learn
There is so much that I'm after
Begin again
the everyday and the ordinary
Take the light out of the window
Put it down on the page:
Hardwood chair, foot of the bed
Spliced in half, make them new again
It was you who found the silver thread
But it was me who did the mending
Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulder
Just like the rain
Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulder
Start again, begin again
Bow + Arrow
There are some things better kept to yourself
Some people are better left to themselves
You're one of those better left to themselves
I never know what might set you off
You want to kiss me, but you don't know how
I want to hold you, but I can't right now
You want to love me, but you don't know how
You never know what might set me off
I want a house of stone set out in the woods
I want a house of stone surrounded by birches
I want a house of stone set out in the woods
Pull up the bone, draw out the marrow
I am the borrow, you are the arrow
Amsterdam
In the rain in Amsterdam
I thought I saw you
In a window looking back
Over your shoulder
In the rain in Amsterdam
I was writing to you
On a postcard
That I never bothered to send
There were doves
Circling above me
And tulips all around
What were you trying to tell me?
I could not make it out
In the rain in Amsterdam
I thought I caught you
Bent over the canals
Gazing at your own reflection
In the rain in Amsterdam
I saw little of the city
Only water, so much water
Falling in a veil around me
Who's to say how long
'til this rain is done?
Thunderbird
In the morning,
While you're sleeping
Barely moving, heavy breathing
In the morning,
I am leaving, the horizon
My undoing
Different cities, bigger cities
Through it all, we were drifting
You cannot keep me
Keep me steady
The horizon
always floating
Through the walls now, I can hear you
Hear you moving, barely breathing
Through the walls now, I can feel you
If that's not you, it must be thunder
Cataract
On our bed the curtain's falling
Against the din
Of a descending hush
And though the night
Bent to kiss my bare shoulders
I could not keep out the dark
Without any warning
Is there no good news I can tell you?
Is there nothing that'll shake you
From your blackest moods
And your spells of mercury?
Is there nothing you can tell me?
Is there nothing that will shake me
when my temper start to unfurl?
Who was the first to fail?
Without any warning
Even though you may be
Out of the picture, baby
You can still call on me
From time to time
Even though I may be
Out of your picture, darling
You can rely on me
From time to time
Huron
Where do we go from here on?
Where's home if you are gone?
With you, I'm home
Where do we go from here on,
When home can be such an unsettling thought?
With you, I'm home
Magnolias
There are some days
Alive in me
More alive than me
In those days
Bleeding into the lake
Is a blood-red paper corsage
Once you said that you hated all flowers
But for magnolias
You never cared
For the finer things, for linen or fancy cars
And the sweet summer hymn of violins
Played in your ear like nails on a chalkboard
I never could understand your words
Though we shared our fair share of blood
When you said you looked forward to death
Who were you putting on?
O Heaven
I've dreamed you
for such a long time.
Heaven is a lage
inside a crystal bowl
with tea light and magnolias
floating on the water
Forever and ever:
As far as the eye can wander.