Rating: NNN
Ring sounds like the kind of album that could only be recorded in the 21st century. Originally penned in the familiar woman-and-GarageBand configuration, Cameron Mesirow’s debut LP has been given a sonic boost by producers Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid but remains a DIY weirdo-pop solo effort.
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Aside from a few marimba, saxophone and glockenspiel flourishes, the nine tracks are built around spare, repetitive programmed beats, punctuating synth lines and the most impressive instrument in Mesirow’s arsenal: her voice.
Sometimes soothing, sometimes mystical and sometimes off-the-wall (see Apply), her vocal versatility carries the hypnotic, looping arrangements, and not vice-versa. In fact, careful listens reveal bass and synth lines actually are Mesirow’s voice, treated and layered until all traces of humanity are erased. Strangely, a distinct analogue warmth still shines through. Think Enya filtered through chillwave.
Top track: Mirrorage
Glasser plays tonight (Thursday, November 11) at the Drake.
