Mercy Oceans


This will come as no surprise to those who know me, but I am easily amused by the seemingly irrelevant and the irrational. Take for instance the fact that when the ninth track ‘I Am’ ends on this, Pantaleimon’s long awaited new album (the first, ‘Trees Hold Time’, was released as long ago as 1999), a full two minutes of silence elapses before ‘Storm and Thunder’ begins, during which the digital clock runs backwards. How cool is that?!
 
Well, OK so it’s no big deal. I mention it though because to my mind ‘Storm and Thunder’  is one of the strongest tracks on here, if ‘strong’ can be used to describe something as fragile as a frosted bloom, and risks being overlooked by anyone not fully paying attention and skipping on to the next album before this one’s run its course, which would be a crying shame. I use this term advisedly, as there’s a sadness which pervades Pantaleimon’s songs once you scratch the surface: the songs are superficially about sun, nature, earth, stars weather and love, but the stars are lost in a deep black sky, the birds have all flown, the sun is drowning, the moon fades, hearts are empty and ships are adrift in a storm. Andria Degens’ voice is hushed and contemplative and this, coupled with that fact that the instrumentation is sparse throughout – her own instrument of choice is the Appalachian dulcimer, and elsewhere she is accompanied by harp, cello and guitar – combines to lend the music an ethereal air. And yet, the songs are not without hope, without a certain amount of joy in life itself.

Hush Arbors' Keith Wood's beautifully fingerpicked guitar propel pieces like 'The Sun Came Out' and 'At Dawn' towards the more familiar currents of the present avant-folk scene, but the best material here comes in the darker moments which Degens, such as the album’s stand-out number 'Born Into You', which weaves Baby Dee's harp and John Contreras' cello in, out, through and beyond droning tambura and haunting chants. It’s interesting to note that the same label, Durtro Jnana, is releasing our old friend Sharron Kraus’s new album ‘The Fox’s Wedding’ later this year. Whilst Sharon’s music is firmly rooted in English (and to some extent Appalachian) folk traditions, with ballads populated by a carnival of charismatic characters, all of whom invariably fall foul of terrible deeds of incest, obsession, insects and perversion, Pantaleimon’s music is decidedly more contemplative, introverted almost. The two complement each other wonderfully well – it’s going to be a special treat watching both perform at Terrastock 7 next June

– Phil McMullen, Terrascope

Delicate drone-folk from Current 93 collaborator

Andria Degens is a resident of Hastings, one of those crumbling seaside towns where time seems to slow to a crawl. This is the first Pantaleimon album since her 1999 debut, and nothing about it is hurried. Over gently plucked acoustic guitar, bouzouki, dulcimer and cello, Degens trills simple, devotional paens to God and nature. Her voice, often double-tracked or harmonised with guests Isobell Campbell and Baby Dee, is delicate but far from vulnerable. Degens is part of David 'Current 93' Tibet's doom-folk diaspora but Anne Briggs, Vashti Bunyan and Björk's Vespertine are also touchstones for an album of humble joy.

– Uncut