Empath "Environments"

Released July 23, 2018

Environments 7”, named after Irv Triebel’s album series of field recordings from the 1960s and ’70s. In keeping with its inspiration, each side of Environments represents a natural element. “Only One” is their portrayal of water, and its alternately placid and boisterous cadence is as dynamic as the ocean. In its opening measures, “Only One” ebbs and flows with the whine of degrading tape, like William Basinski’s iconic Disintegration Loops, and conjures up images of the tide advancing and receding. By the time Catherine Elicson’s chipper voice chimes in, the song has kicked into a sludy serving of garage punk. Elicson’s warbled vocals, along with liquid flourishes of keyboard, evoke a raucous band playing underwater, while samples of seabirds circle above them. In a climactic frenzy, Elicson chirps like a parrot, snares are pounded to froth, and then like a wave crashing back to the surface, everything returns to a slushing and meditative state. -- Pitchfork

Track Listing: 
01. Polyfoam / Wind
02. Only One / Water