The Black Dove: Christian Kiefer and Sharron Kraus

"Dearest" walks a bleary line between shades of consciousness, all cerebral activity and quiet, pulsing sleep-life. There's a dreamy wash somewhere (in front of us? behind?) and a voice right in our ears, everything strangely metastable and unclear. Amongst unsoothing whispers of crowns and iceblocks, resolution comes in a plaintive crescendo of dreamspeak, "Now the dreams they are thick about my head/ They come to me with the clouds when I sleep/ But they all have mouths like yours." Yours. Off-puttingly direct and uncannily implemented, this line moves the abstractions toward focus and leaves us feeling slightly intrusive, suddenly privy to a monologue never intended for our ears. But before we leave, we realize that this is more than a lamentation - a subtle tone of empowerment and defiance lies in the rolling banjo and drums, pulling the voice further and further from the crown and the mouths, and finally out of the dream.

Christian Kiefer and Sharron Kraus - Dearest [mp3]

Buy their newly released album, The Black Dove, at Tompkins Square.

Visit Christian Kiefer and Sharron Kraus online.

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Ms. Hotpoint has a new Shearwater track! Well it looks like everybody has it now, but she had it first.

Enjoy!