The Predatory Wasp
Afloat came out in 2006 on Corrina Repp’s album The Absent and the Distant, and is a record I come back to all the time. It’s one of the most heartbreaking, delicate, beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. The piano line that trickles in halfway through is completely inspired, and the whole thing is drenched in a kind of washed out melancholia that is just perfect. Two and a half minutes of sheer, choking bliss.
As Midwife, Madeline Johnston plays what she describes as “Heaven Metal,” or “emotive music about devastation”. In other words it’s very low-key and gloomy, but in beautifully uplifting way. This is taken from her new album Forever which is definitely worth checking out, especially if you want to gaze out of a window and Think A Lot About Sad Things for a while. Also has a touch of early Sufjan in the vocal delivery and atmospherics, which is never a bad thing.
This came out back in October as the lead single from Keeley Forsyth’s debut album Debris, but I’ve only just heard it. Her voice is incredible, kinda like a female Nick Cave, portentous and anguished. Brief, but very powerful.
Kicking this off with one of my favourite records from the last couple of years. Definitely should have got way more attention that it did. Just amazingly beautiful.
The Predatory Wasp 