We can’t quite figure out how sound artist and free-form guitarist Jon Collin manages to crank out so much music, but we’re certainly grateful he does. Over the past few years, he’s released a trifecta of collaborations with Demdike Stare, alongside a seemingly endless stream of solo recordings for his Early Music label, as well as for Discreet Music, Feeding Tube, and several other labels. Devotion Objects is the debut collaborative album from Troth, the Nipaluna-based duo of Amelia Besseny, Cooper Bowman, and Collin.
The album was created in Tasmania’s isolated locations, where the trio recorded music that became a musical expression of mountain landscapes and streams through its minimal melodic approach.
Remote Tasmania’s eerie vibe is powerfully captured through Besseny’s haunting vocals, Bowman’s sparse instrumentation, and Collin’s ritualistic strumming, highlighting the lurking mystery beneath Australia’s vast landscape. “When I think about it, it sounds like being together at the bottom of the Earth. Watching, listening and playing together with no one else in sight,” reflects Bowman.
The opener, ‘Poet’s Recollection’, combines guitar loops with sweet vocals to establish its emotional base. The instruments play beautifully together in tracks like ‘Whispering Sand’ and ‘Serra Cantica’ to produce an absorbing, floating sensory experience. The third track, ‘The Womb It Wanders’, strengthens the meditation themes of the album. ‘Lune River’ exudes a delightful and chaotic grandeur, with Besseny’s chants pirouetting elegantly over the utterly lovely strings. Collin steals the show on ‘Nocturnal House’, leading the way down a dreamy, bluesy path. He expertly plucks out vibrant acoustic chords that weave beautifully around Besseny’s flowing choral melodies before the closing piece ‘Shepherds Hill’ creates a feeling of inner tranquillity.
Besseny delivers heavenly vocal melodies while Bowman accompanies with understated synth lines which merge perfectly with Collin’s echo-effect guitar work to inspire quiet contemplation. Combining organic music and electronic sounds creates a dreamlike effect that fully engrosses listeners throughout the album. Devotion Objects presents an atmospheric listening experience that explores soundscapes between fragile and experimental abstract elements.
