Following a pair of albums of delicate, eerie, and increasingly murky post-rock songs,
Hilary Woods
spent two years recording, producing, and mixing
Acts of Light
, a shift into drone-based composition that leaves song structure behind. Described as a fugue consisting of nine dirges, it's a gloomy yet suspenseful work whose components include field recordings collected across northwest Spain, the west coast of Ireland, and Dublin; double bass, cello, and viola; synthesizer; electronics and undefined noise and sound manipulation; and voice, including the participation of two choirs (
the Galway City Chamber Choir
and
the Palestrina Choir
), depending on the track. The under-three-minute "Burial Rites" starts things off with a slowly expanding mass of low, narrowly melodic strings, drone, unidentifiable electronic tones, and what sounds like something between a demon-like exhale and a sustained sewer gust. A recording of a passing, piston-driven train is also discernible in the mix, but more important than identifying source material is its gradual motion and overall ominous quality. Its spooky mood, low pitch range, and engrossing, nuanced movement are on display throughout
but with subtle adjustments, including the introduction of vocals -- chant -- on third track "Where the Bough Has Broken." That piece also has more tonal activity, with a unison swooping effect in the strings that has to cut through more and more shimmer and mechanical noise as it progresses. The album's title track is perhaps its most horror score-adjacent, with pulsing, tympani-like tones, amplifier-type buzzing, and more of those guttural sewer sighs all topped off by a haunting, mournful high alto line. Elsewhere, "Awakening" features a sound that evokes a possessed accordion, and "Blood Orange" vibrates like a spaceship. It's definitely music for dourer days, although there's also an alluring elegance in play that can make it feel more mysterious than dispiriting. Like a lot of compellingly constructed minimalist music,
benefits from repeat listens. ~ Marcy Donelson