The voice of Dagmar Zuniga is an instrument which evokes a real mood. The down-tempo neo-folk of her new record is sublime. This is material that is a distant cousin to Mazzy Star and Grouper, but also wholly of its own world.
The title of this record is in filth your mystery is kingdom / far smile peasant in yellow music and, yes, that's a bit much. Still, inside the record are songs which are barely there, a faint hint of an emotion being pulled to the surface by Dagmar. Plucked guitar and whispered vocals make "Even God Gets Stuck in Devotion", the opener, a memorable piece of music. Elsewhere, the strums of "Plenty for All the Masses" anchor Zuniga's breathy vocals to Earth, even as the song feels like it's falling apart before us, while the ethereal "Rose of Mysterious Union" recalls some of the better early tracks from His Name is Alive. The sing-song-y "A Car with No Lights On" may be the real highlight here. On that one, Zuniga's art approaches territory once mapped out by Broadcast early on.
When critics call something ethereal, they usually don't know what they're talking about. But this really is ethereal. Dagmar Zuniga's nearly whispered vocals make these numbers work. The instrumentation is sparse, and the effect is sort of magical. This brief record charms though, and anyone who grew up on Cocteau Twins and the like should find some way in here.
Dagmar Zuniga's in filth your mystery is kingdom / far smile peasant in yellow music is out now on AD 93.
[Photo: Dagmar Zuniga]