Ruby Fray

After the release of her debut album, Pith [KLP239], Emily Beanblossom spent two years touring the U.S., selling her handmade soaps and working on the bare bones of her second album, Grackle [KLP251].

Grackle [KLP251] blends Americana sweetness with sludgy dissonance. Opening with a a slow synthesizer prelude, "You Should Go" sets the tone for listless anthems characterized by Beanblossom's harmonies and hollers. "Vespers", a morning prayer, introduces a coy letter to a wayward sailor in "Photograph". "Barbara" takes the stage to insert bitter anecdotes with a sharp twist of a post-modern dance beat paired with the tremolo of a Finnish lap harp, and "Anthony" invokes a dark spaghetti western composition supporting Gregorian vocal harmonies.

Emily and long time collaborator Nick Botka, teamed up with Pith producer, Ben Hargett to record this album at Dub Narcotic Studio in Olympia, WA. Their newest recording preserves the playful jangly genre-bouncing enervation found in their previous work, while insisting on a more disciplined approach to songwriting.

With musical muscle from a handful of established Austin musicians, such as punk musician Corey Anderson of Ghetto Ghouls, folk singer Julia Lucille, and Danny Metcalf and Danielle Rose Moran of noise rock band SUR, Ruby Fray will be hitting the road to tour in support of Grackle [KLP251] upon it's release date of September 30th.

The digital version of this album is available from Bandcamp.

Listen to "Barbara" on Stereogum.