adrianne lenker – zombie girl

what a dream that was
i almost couldn’t wake because
i was frozen in bed with a zombie girl
vacant as a closed-down fair

sleep paralysis, sworn i could’ve felt you there
and i almost could’ve kissed your hair
but the emptiness withdrew me
from any kind of wishful prayer

oh, emptiness
tell me ‘bout your nature
maybe i’ve been getting you wrong
i cover you with questions
cover you with explanations
cover you with music

then the next night
dreaming i could feel your skin
but the dream escaped so easily
and i woke up to the road again

how your words ring through
something kind of sweet and blue
and i knew that you’d been understanding
everything that i’d said too

about emptiness
tell me about your nature
maybe i’ve been getting you wrong
i cover you with questions
cover you with explanations
cover you with music

what’s on your mind, what’s on your mind?

ビッグ・シーフ。そのフロントウーマンのエイドリアン・レンカーさんはワールドコンサートツアーがコロナ禍により中断された3月初旬からマサチューセッツのログハウスにひきこもって音楽を止めるな。音楽を止めませんでした。そして。こんかい『songs』と『instrumentals』という2作を一度にリリースしました。掃いて捨てるくらいあるアコギによるその猛烈な曲数の音楽は混沌とした浮世から隔絶したゾンビの内面世界を描き出しています。

It was early March 2020 and the Big Thief tour had just been cut short, so I flew from Europe to NYC. It just so happened that there was a little cabin available for rent right next door to Zoe and Brian in the mountains in Western MA. So I grabbed my truck and drove out to the country. As I settled into the cabin over the course of a month, I grew really connected to the space itself. The one room cabin felt like the inside of an acoustic guitar — it was such a joy to hear the notes reverberate in the space . I got a hankering to capture it, so I called my friend Phil and asked “How’d you like to get outta the city and make a record that sounds like the inside of an acoustic guitar?” Phil said “100%” and by the grace of some of our dear friends, we were able to gather the materials needed. Brendan lent us about 45 tape machines. Eli lent us a binaural head (which looked remarkably like Phil), and Shahzad lent us a pile of XLR cables. I drove into the city at 5am on the 20th of April, scooped up Phil and then we filled my truck to the brim as we stopped and gathered the gear along the way back to Massachusetts.