Following on from a string of videos and singles, and last year's stunning Moves in the Field, Kelly Moran has returned with a new record. Don't Trust Mirrors, out today digitally ahead of its physical release, finds the musician expanding her artistic approach. The expansive music here bridges classical, ambient, and post-punk genres in impressive ways.
"Echoes in the Field" echoes last year's album, while "Prism drift" spirals out across gamelan-like keyboard figures. The effect is, like on the best Moran pieces, one of forward motion, and melodic precision. The title cut, with label-mate Bibio, is even better. The simple hook is repeated on prepared piano, and louder notes interrupt from a distance. It's a glittering piece of work with a sinister undercurrent about it. The heavier "Reappearing" has some of the weighty grace of peak Harold Budd about it, while the lighter "Lunar Wave" is more Eno and Lanois.
Throughout Don't Trust Mirrors, Kelly Moran redefines ambient forms. Closer to Cluster or the Eno instrumental stuff than lots of her contemporaries' work, Moran peels back anything extra here until only a kind of glistening music is left. The pieces are deceptively simple, and altogether enrapturing. Icily precise, this is still minimalist music, but a kind with heart. There's a warmth here that is the result of this artist yearning for something just out of reach, and thus Kelly Moran's Don't Trust Mirrors is part of one of the most interesting journeys in contemporary music.
Don't Trust Mirrors by Kelly Moran is out on digital formats today. Physical release will follow soon via Warp. Details also available via the Bandcamp link below.
[Photo: Brian Karlsson]