Understanding the geography of the heart is no easy task. Mapping the peaks and valleys requires a skill and honesty that can leave writers grasping at straws. Which makes the case of Flutes & Low more remarkable. Lay Fallow captures singer-songwriters Cambria Haen and Ben Pinchler in the process of creating a first album timelessly traversing interior and exterior landscapes with a dexterity rarely seen in a debut effort.
Producing the album themselves on Pro Tools, they have crafted a set of songs that seem to exist in a world outside the constraints of time and space. Rather than being rooted in a particular time or place, the album traces the seams and sounds of moments in time. ‘Armistice’ tracks the pathways of a relationship that isn’t always working. The guitar strums patterns as the two try to achieve at least a temporary peace, “Lay your weapons down/ I am yours for now/ And always bless the ground/ In this broken house.” Real peace may take longer, but for the moment a truce is underway.
The intricacy of the songs and voices on Lay Fallow unfold slowly, revealing new depths in the material. On ‘Freyr Cries’, what initially sounds like strings is revealed as the voice of Haen. Sounds of muted brass appear on ‘Lamb’ creating a sense of wonder at how these two musicians take the material places one doesn’t expect. Hints of mandolin appear on ‘Long Winter’ like sounds from a snowfall that can just barely be heard over the wind. The call to put the kettle on and add a log to the fire establishes the cold of the outside world.
Throughout the album strings provide counterpoints to the guitar, adding variations and colour that generate unexpected depths. ‘Shifting’ uses the subtlety of the strings to provide a base that is replaced by steel guitar in the second half of the song. At times notes haunt the psyche. Realising how much thought has gone into these tracks only serves to highlight the intricacies of Lay Fallow.
Resembling the tones of a church organ, ‘A Vespera’ concludes this collection with a solemnity, while Haen and Pincher’s vocals offer a solemnity to the proceedings. Flutes & Low’s Lay Fallow is a most auspicious beginning. Nothing is quite as simple as it seems, and the depths continue to open.