Well it’s not yet September and the duo are back, this time with an album that was written and recorded in a far more intimate setting. Drone and Hum represents a landmark for Old Amica as it is in fact the very first record they have made while spatially and temporally together. After completing Fabula in the springtime, the pair decided to meet and play some music together. So they gathered all of the instruments they could find, set up a microphone in the middle of the room and began creating. A few days later, this lovely EP was finished.

The band then sent the new songs to Swedish filmmaker Jonas Börjesson, who wasted no time in creating the beautiful video for ‘Joni’ which you can see in the player below:

Old Amica – Joni from Jonas Börjesson on Vimeo.

We were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the rest of the EP, and I’m pleased to say that the other songs are just as good. I was unsure when the band said that the record would be largely instrumental, but this is a worthy companion to their previous releases. In fact, it is the second amazingly beautiful instrumental album I have featured this week (see also Lejsovka & Freund’s Mold On Canvas)

Drone and Hum is due for release on a pay-what-you-want basis on the 5th of September. Check back at their Bandcamp page on release day.

P.S. If you’re not familiar with Old Amica’s previous releases, then do yourself a favour and remedy that fact. Start with The Burning Dot Part I, then The Burning Dot Part II and finally Fabula.

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a low place at The Old Place is an album that Umhoefer released last year, consisting of six songs which appear as a single track, which comes in at just over 18 minutes in length. Several of the tracks have been previewed on Bandcamp in the past (most notably ’more wrung in the wrong?’ which was the track that introduced me into Old Earth) but this is certainly the definitive collection. The album was recorded in the basement of Umhoefer’s grandparents’ vacant home, where he says ghosts are abound. This eerie atmosphere pervades the entire album and some of the haunting experimentation on show really is rather beautiful. There’s also this strange and ominous side to it that makes the whole thing fell like some sort of weird fever dream. The sparse lyrics provide a perfect accompaniment to the music. Below are the lyrics of ’wait less, more strings’, which I think give a good indication of the atmosphere of the album as a whole:

What if it’s all in the fall? 
What if it’s all in the fall? 
What if it won’t happen now? 
What if it’s all in the fall? 
What if it rains again? 
What if it’s all in the fall? 
What if it’s an old house? 
What if it’s a wait? 
What if it’s an older word? 
What if it’s a weight? 
What if it’s alone? 
What if it’s a wait? 
What if the word was so? 
What if it’s all in the fall? 
What if it’s a wait? 
What if it’s a weight? 
What if it’s a wait? 

The album was produced by Christopher Porterfield of Conrad Plymouth and Field Report (who we are very big fans of), who also lends vocals on the album. Nick Berg and Travis Whitty, two other members of Field Report, also lend their talents to the project. You can buy the album on vinyl, CD or digital download via Bandcamp – and it’s really really good so I would suggest that you strongly consider it.

Old Earth has also recently signed with mini50, a label based in Edinburgh, and has a release, titled Small Hours, scheduled for release in the Spring. I have embedded the teaser trailer (which was created by Blackbox Visual, using footage from Don Ford) below:

Old Earth – Small Hours album trailer from Blackbox Visual on Vimeo.

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