Phoebe Hunt & The Gatherers “Baba Vanga” – Listen

Oh my goodness – what is Phoebe Hunt doing to country on her new album ‘Neither One of US is Wrong‘?  Or, put it another way, what is Phoebe Hunt not doing to country on her new album ‘Neither One of US is Wrong‘?  For, within what is still a recognisable structure, Phoebe Hunt and the loose coalition of musicians that make up The Gatherers take paths rarely trodden into what can only be identified as that rarely heard thing, the true Cosmic American Music.

The original concept for ‘Neither One of Us Is Wrong‘ was to write a bunch of campfire songs that everyone could jam to.  That concept didn’t survive contact with the densely and delicately layered music that was being recorded.  Today’s song is a point in case, evolving out of an extended jam session which left Hunt compelled to capture her thoughts on ‘Baba Vanga’, a Bulgarian Clairvoyant and Herbalist from around the turn of the nineteenth century who suffered great loneliness and misfortune.  The song hooks into the language of the blind seer’s prophecies combining portentous lyrics with a melodic lamentation

The album isn’t due until next April, so enjoy this teaser and be assured that there are equal – and greater – treasures to come.

Photo by Evan Felts.