[Reviewed by stark]
It’s been a while since we reviewed a dark folk album. At some point I felt tired with the genre and it went off my radar.It seems that interesting things are still happening within this particular style and this short EP is a fine example of that.
It’s a one woman project from Israel, Tamar Singer (a very appropriate name, this lady really knows how to use her vocal cords), she’s also involved in a band called Cruel Wonders. Though dark folk is the game here, it is also flirting with gothic and dark wave atmospheres, a feeling intensified through poems by William Ernest Henley and Alexander Blok being used as lyrics. So we have two major layers here, acoustic guitar, maybe not very sophisticated, but surely touching and Tamar’s voice standing somewhere between Francesca from Ataraxia and Alicia from Birds Of Passage. Combined with decent songwriting this EP captivates you from the very first listening.
But there’s also a third layer, which at first seem to be crawling in the background, yet when you dig deeper you realize that it gives a special character to the music: deep, apocalyptic guitar textures which in the third tune “Holy” reach their peak. A climax of sadness and desperation, its like Nadja going gothic, squeezing tears from your eyes.
“Sigh For Sigh” is dedicated to Tamar’s grandparents. All four of them have passed away – I know that feeling as both my grandmas and grandpas are gone too and sometimes I catch myself recalling the beautiful moments of my childhood, in great degree identified with my grandparents. So I suppose I appreciate the feeling behind the sounds as more than just nice melodies. Zeresh – another project to watch in the future.
Zeresh – Sigh For Sigh
999 cuts, CUT 01
CDr/Digital 2018
Santa Sangre 