Serafina Steer & John T. Gast - Garden Of Love / Water Carrier

  • The UK harpist and a mysterious electronic producer tease an ecstatic collaboration.
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  • On first glance, this team-up from John T. Gast and harpist Serafina Steer resembles the emotional crescendos of mid-'00s post-rock, though listen closer and they bear closer to Charlamagne Palestine's ecstatic Strumming Music. Here, the two English musicians set their sights on transcendence, using harp, delay, pressurized organ, synths and horns for what they call a "slowly evolving collaboration." On the magical "Water Carrier," toms beat a scattershot rhythm over a drone and thrumming harp, but soon, all that's left is a mournful EBow and a simple exhale. In the video for "Garden Of Love," masked onlookers stare out over the cliffs towards the famed big waves of Nazaré, Portugal. It's an apt metaphor. On these two cuts, Gast and Steer attempt to reckon with the sublime.
RA