Twinsistermoon

Certain things you have to be in the right mood for, and Twinsistermoon’s (One part of the extraordinary Natural Snow Buildings) The Hollow Mountain is something that requires a state of contemplation and patience. It’s distinctly aged, hushed aesthetic an acquired taste to say the least. I use ‘acquired taste’ in a very positive manner here, the music is layered and gorgeous, Mehdi Ameziane’s voice is haunted and beautiful, one I don’t think I’ll be forgetting about anytime soon. The imprint of Natural Snow Building is on The Hollow Mountain, but the songs are far more accessible to the average music lover than NSB(Natural Snow Buildings)’s elegant and occasionally frightening drones tend to be.. Nonetheless, like NSB, this is music that requires patience.

Points:

The sound of the record is best described as somewhat medieval sounding, Mehdi Ameziane’s vocals best exemplify this. The songs feel more akin to old folk music – psychedelic folk as well now that I think of it – and the drone, the ambient effects that are laden themselves over the music make a thin haze the fogs the vision to create a visual aid – work in the favor of an older, more worn tone for the music.

Overall, The Hollow Mountain can appropriately be called gorgeous, a definite highlight of the year.. heartbreakingly beautiful and mournful, I’d call it ‘literate’ music, but that term doesn’t exactly fit.. It’s music that’s evocative without the use of words, but it would feel snug next to a singer/songwriter album, it’s ebb and flow deeply personal to the listener and probably to the artist as well.

I’d strongly recommend downloading the album, or buying the album if still can, it was limited to 30 copies after all. It isn’t perfect, it requires a peaceful state of mind, and it suffers dearly when you remove songs from context, but those are small and fairly insignificant complaints, The Hollow Mountain is one of the year’s best and it deserves your attention.

Download the album here