Portland, Oregon outfit Lore City believe in the “transformational power of sound.” Consisting of Laura Mariposa Williams (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Eric Angelo Bessel (percussion, keyboard, guitar), the duo play off one another’s energy, a kind of mutual inspiration that aims to tap into something older and ingrained. “We hand over words, instruments, and rhythms; trading back and forth until everything belongs to both of us, until we are indistinguishable,” they explain. “We create from the belief that we are all one, and that we’ve been here before.”
Therefore, while their sound is ostensibly experimental, it breaks the mould of the genre. For rather than attempting to create something new, Lore City are essentially doing the opposite. Trialling different styles and sounds in the search of the means most able to conjure forces already in existence, and draw them toward us across the earthly divide. Such esoteric intentions are hardwired into the latest Lore City release, Participation Mystique, a record born of astrological events and links between the spiritual and corporeal worlds.
Single ‘I Am the One’ introduces just what such a record might sound like. A collision between mystical ambient textures and brooding rock tones. A sense somewhere in the centre of transcendence and foreboding, on the cusp of something impossibly large yet retaining a personal spirit too. Of being one within something ancient and communal, and welcoming yourself into the fold.
I wish you could have been there with me
I wish I could have shown you
I wish I could carry you through
All that I have known‘Cause I am the one
Who will take you along
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3603938510 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=2443894461]
Participation Mystique is out on the 23rd July and you can pre-order it now from the Lore City Bandcamp page.
