Karen Zanes is back and more vibrant than ever on the dreamy and empyreal Cloaked.
The Cambridge, Mass. based psychedelic folk artist leans further into the cosmic side of her sound on this album, utilizing a great deal of reverberation and organ drones. This is perhaps most evident on the phantasmagoric “Only Lovers Left Alive,” which features Zanes’ soft vocals echoing kaleidoscopically over humming keyboards and shimmery strummed guitars.
Meanwhile, on songs like “Psycho Show,” Zanes displays the strength of her dream pop skills. She takes pulsating electro beats and strangely catchy hooks, and combines them with her delicate folk instrumentation and ghostly astral effects to create a truly memorable and addictive sonic gem. A fine example of this is the hypnotic “On My Walk.” With looping atmospheric electric guitars layered underneath a drum machine and subdued vocals, Zanes practically merges into MV & EE territory here.
Housed in a sleeve adorned by gorgeous artwork by Dawn Aquarius (of whom you may recognize as the designer of our latest logo), this slice of celestial folk will be released this Friday on limited edition vinyl, CD and digital. If you’re a fan of the modern works of Linda Perhacs, The Left Outsides and Wax Machine, you won’t want to miss this album. Preorder your copy here now.
-KH
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