Out today, the self-titled debut album from post-folk travellers Immaterial Possession, a quartet, half of whom came from an artist commune and half who were card-carrying Elephant6 alumni. ‘Immaterial Possession’ is a rich tapestry of a record, a gorgeous, melodious return to a time when influences co-habited freely and whatever was close at hand made the music of the day.
All set to Syd Barrett-era Floyd and Nico with haunting lines, it’s perfectly tinged with gamelan harmonies, evocative Spanish guitars and xylophone. Exuding mystical symbolism; they wear luscious threads, they’re part of something/anything; perhaps a neo-modern-folk commune of artists in search of a canvas to stretch out over their juxtaposed influences.
Immaterial Possession was conceived by Atlanta natives, Cooper Holmes and Madeline Polites, who met while living together at an Atlanta artist commune that was integrated into the DIY music, theatre, and arts scene. Some years later the duo moved to the neighbouring musical town of Athens, GA. They were soon joined by seasoned drummer, John Spiegel, and eventually fulfilled with multi-instrumentalist Kiran Fernandes (keyboards, clarinets, flutes) – descendant of the Elephant 6 Collective scene.
All members bring forth a spectral hue unique to the ear – with Holmes’ dark and driving punk-rooted bass, interwoven with Spiegel’s vast repertoire of drumming artistry. Polites, inspired by the musical scales of the Greeks and Spanish, weaves from her haunting bedroom classical guitar and transposes to grittier electric. Fernandes, dancing intuitively along the keys, offers a window into far away eastern lands.. There’s an all-encompassing mystique that inhabits the music of Immaterial Possession; a beguiling rawness with operatic impulses shared vocally by both Holmes and Polites.
It’s eastern, it’s eerie dream pop, it’s spacious and ethereal… A perfectly wild trip, and where it ends is immaterial.
