Avant-garde and evocative all at once, the lead track from Félicia Atkinson upcoming album called The Flower And The Vessel is a beauty. Entitled ‘Shirley to Shirley’, the track showcases Atkinsons knack for beautifully serene, eerily haunting soundcapes.

The French poet and composer recorded the project while pregnant on tour, in impersonal hotel rooms in foreign cities. Atkinson has referenced a trio of French classical compositions as influences on the album: Maurice Ravel’s ‘L’enfant et les sortilèges’, Debussy’s ‘La Mer’ and Erik Satie’s ‘Gymnopédies’. Across the collection, you’ll hear shades of classicism woven within the tracks, however hidden, abstracted, or unconventional.

The 11-track album features Atkinson using a mixture of field recordings from Tasmania and the Mojave Desert as well as cut-up poems, interviews, plus percussion instruments such as the vibraphone, and marimba.

Sunn O))) guitarist Stephen O’Malley joins Atkinson on the 19-minute closing track ‘Des Pierres’.

The Flower And The Vessel is out July 5th via Shelter Press. Pre-order here.

Listen to lead track ‘Shirley To Shirley’ below.

Tracklisting:

1. L’Après-Midi
2. Moderato Cantabile
3. Shirley to Shirley
4. Un Ovale Vert
5. You Have To Have Eyes
6. Linguistics Of Atoms
7. Lush
8. Joan
9. Open / Ouvre
10. L’Enfant Et Le Poulpe
11. Des Pierres