Enigmatic. Androgynous. Ethereal. There are a lot of words to describe the life and the work of artist Jarboe, who is most known for work with the ever-changing Swans, but the best word I can think of is prolific. Jarboe releases new music constantly. If you’re not keeping up, you could easily miss a full-length album before another one is released. It has happened to me a few times. I see her records as milestones in a timeline. She is always changing, always morphing, and always doing something spiritually engaging.
This time is no different. With her latest Sightings Jarboe explores naturalistic themes through minimalistic electronics, pianos, neoclassical strings, naked rhythms, and her signature baroque baritone voice in just five tracks and two remixes.
The opening cut, “The Holy Waters,” dives in carefully, immersively. There is a ton of reverse delay on this track. Minimal beats that give way to gorgeous strings, always guided by Jarboe’s signature croon. Suddenly, her voice goes from croon to a smaller, more innocent tone in “Francesca Sun.” Strings are now accompanied by sparse bells and cymbals. A distant timpani-like drum keeps the beat while Jarboe arpeggiates in a vocal solo. Then everything drops out. Then it’s just her, a piano, and atmosphere that closes with a spoken word passage.
“Choir and the Night Fox” features a more prominent drum beat that is then covered by saturating synthesizers and what sounds like the caw of a bird, which is misleading due to the title alluding to a fox. Its caw becomes a central vocal element of the track, looping throughout its runtime. It becomes the lead vocal as Jarboe arpeggiates around it with her own voice. Eventually the piano calls back to the bird and the two talk to each other.
The ambiance of the next track beckons you to inhale and exhale. “Breathe” is a meditative nine minutes of bliss. More bells clang, bringing you outside of yourself. Jarboe literally breathes on the track while an array of instruments blend together behind her and the percussion.
Finally, “Viredo Serenade” begins more overtly with the sound of birds. They are talking to each other. They don’t go away. Instead, they become a part of the piece itself, their sound ever-present as Jarboe sings with them. Her tiny, distant piano complements the fowl. It doesn’t obstruct them. It is truly a bird song with the sounds of nature at the forefront of the piece. It is calming and beautiful.
The first remix track is an extension of the drum, wind, and string improvisation in “The Holy Waters.” It’s great but should have been a part of the original track. It’s not a remix, but an extension. The final piece, a remix of “Ancient Memory” from Jarboe’s debut solo album Thirteen Masks is quite special. The electro-baroque composition is covered by Jarboe’s grounded spoken word. Her voice is as resonant spoken as it is sung moments later. Synthesizers loop, spoken word returns, and a booming timpani drum close the album ritualistically.
Sightings does something that a lot of Jarboe’s recent work does. It leaves you in a sense of the eternal while being extremely digestible. Obviously, this is not music for the fickle or those who simply can’t dream, but if you just stop to listen, or in this case see what is happening, the world quiets and you find something still, human, and celestial all at once.
