Extreme minimalism where every breath and finger-slide is audible. A skeletal, haunting collection of folk songs that feel like a private conversation in the dark.
It sounds like someone whispering their most beautiful, scary secrets to you in a dark room.
A fragile, hushed intimacy that finds profound beauty in the cycles of life and death.
Released in 2018, 'abysskiss' serves as a pivotal bridge between Adrianne Lenker's early solo work and her later dominance in the indie-folk scene. Recorded at Panoramic Studio in California with Luke Temple and Gabe Wax, the album is defined by its radical sonic economy. It features several tracks, most notably 'terminal paradise' and 'from', that would later be reimagined as full-band anthems on Big Thief's 'U.F.O.F.', but here they exist in their most primal, skeletal forms. The recording process emphasized the 'room sound', capturing the physical space of the performance. Critics noted the album's ability to make the mundane feel metaphysical, with Pitchfork praising its 'unease of secrets' and Paste highlighting its 'warm familiarity'. It stands as a masterclass in how to use silence and space as instruments, cementing Lenker's reputation as one of the most distinctive songwriters of her generation.
Put this on for
3am ceiling-staring silence after someone said the quiet part out loudbare feet on cold wood floors while the kettle starts to whistlethat heavy-lidded moment when the book falls onto your chestwatching the fog roll over the treeline with nowhere to betracing the dust motes in a single beam of afternoon lightthe specific stillness of a house when everyone else is asleepcold hands wrapped around a mug that is finally cooling down
Moments worth waiting for
The unsettlingly close vocal on 'terminal paradise' where the intake of breath feels like a shared secret.
The hypnotic, circular guitar figure in 'symbol' that creates a sense of infinite, rhythmic motion.
The transition into the demo tracks where the fidelity drops even further, revealing the songs' skeletal origins.
Sounds like
2018s production with a 2010s soul
Sits beside
Pink Moon - Nick Drake, For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver, Songs - Adrianne Lenker, The Party - Andy Shauf
Lyrical territory
death_mortality, nature, existential
03Deviation
abysskiss · vs · Adrianne Lenker
Artist
This Album
Vulnerable
Mood · ↑ +8% more than usual
On this album, vulnerable sits about 8% more prominent than across the rest of the artist's catalogue.
