Last year we wrote about Old Man Of The Woods, the project of Richmond‘s Miranda Elliott, and its debut EP, dissolve. With its distinctive blend of pop, electronic and ambient styles, the release “blur[red] the line between the personal and the natural world, conjuring a vivid and sometimes eerie soundscape as damp and rich as the woodland floor.” And more than making for an immersive experience, Elliott layered this sound into wider thematic considerations, making for a cohesive and engaging record. As we continued:
The music of old man of the woods […] is a forest of its own. One often still and quiet, mournful in the way woods can be, but quietly powerful too. Because the systems of life and consumption within the natural world are different to those of our own, and within the lonely forest and its constant regrowth lies a humble secret. A comfort, a humble triumph over death.
Fast forward a year and Old Man of the Woods is preparing to release its debut full-length album, Votives. Out via Totally Real Records, the album develops the style introduced on dissolve, pushing beyond the natural world and into that of dreams, thereby inviting us further into Elliott’s distinctive imagination.
To introduce the release, Old Man of the Woods has unveiled the title track. It proves a fitting choice, as the album took root in the image at the song’s heart. “I wrote ‘Votives’ after seeing friends that had coincidentally ordered love candles from the same witchy shop,” Elliott explains. “I imagined lighting one and watching my last relationship reignite. I’d regret ending it for too long, but envisioning it play out again, I realized I’d end it again. There was so much relief in that realization. I held that flame in my mind and blew it out.”
With a sparse synth line suspended upon an ethereal depth beyond, the track throws us into the deep end of this newfound dreaminess. Elliott’s vocals swing between soft and plainspoken, invoking the bittersweet confrontation mentioned above, as the song gradually builds into a languid electro pop hit.
This development mimics the intuitive logic of dreams, where the subconscious strips away layers of complication and instead presents feelings as images abstract and strange. “That night, I dreamt that peoples’ minds were little churches filled with votives burning for everyone they’d ever loved,” Elliott continues. “That image really stuck with me and played a large role in bringing the rest of the album together.”
