Next up is the latest work by
cello-wielding Swiss experimentalist – and ‘one woman orchestra’ – Fatima Dunn. Birds and Bones is subtle, gentle and soothing, but it also hints
at deeper menace and weirdness throughout. At times this record is so bare it feels
fragile, with the likes of (the truly beautiful) ‘Ebb and Flow’ being about as
stripped down as it gets: simply cello and vocals. Elsewhere, things are a
little more urgent (see ‘So Free’), and/or complex (the vocal gymnastics of
‘Dive into the Light’ are weird but good). Dunn’s
decision to sing in a mixture of English and German across the album adds
something different, and fits well with a musical approach that perhaps is best
described as ‘minimalist experimentation’. Occasionally the experiment backfires,
with a few tracks risking disappearing up themselves: the wind-chime rattle of
‘Les Vaches d’Abel’, for example, takes things to the very edge of
self-indulgence. Overall, though, this is unique, interesting record by a very
talented artist.
sample track: Ebb and Flow