Mammoth

Description

The voice grabs you, first calmly. But soon, you feel that something is off: a palpable tension bubbles beneath the surface of Mammoth, the second album by Flora Hibberd, British singer-songwriter, in two years. An evolution from the gentle acoustic warmth of her first album, Swirl, these ten tracks vibrate with a revolutionary, electrified, unleashed, and vital energy. An inner tumult: Hibberd's voice pierces the heart, refracting through the water of a pond and reflecting strangely in the voices that surround it. Produced by Ben Lanz (Beirut, The National), the songs of Mammoth evolve on a dizzying tightrope, carried by the electronic waves of Lanz's modular synthesizers and sublimated by the bodily embrace of his beautifully arranged brass. Hibberd's initial folk influences fade, giving way to a tense and precise sound: the raw and fluid drumming of Lucien Chatin, the straightforward bass lines of Nils Sørensen, the feverish guitar of Victor Claass, her long-time collaborator. Figures emerge from this abundance, bringing their own voices: Sufjan Stevens (Ache, Perfect Ripple), Kate Stables and Lonny from This Is The Kit (Deltaplane, Mythic Figure) and J.E. Sunde (Shelley, Dew Pond). Initially composed of demos by Flora, Ben, and Victor in Vésinet over six months, the drum, bass, and guitar parts were then recorded live by Ben at Aaron Dessner's Mini Pond studio in the Basque Country. Carefully mixed in Paris by Étienne Caylou and brilliantly mastered by Chab, Mammoth shines with a pop brilliance without ever softening its incisive character.