THUS OWLS
Who Would Hold You If The Sky Betrayed Us ?
(2022 -  For The Living And The Dead - Canada)

https://thusowls.bandcamp.com/

Instant pupil expanding music, fast tucking itself into a smart pocket, yet with such jolt, it forces deeper audition. A brave spark gone explosive, the music draws you in like a black hole. Did it poke where you are bleeding?  Oh in the regions of dying stars, this brilliance made it impossible for the listening experience to only stay a place reserved for those who waited patiently for something /anything such as this.  Keep your marvel of amazement, as 'Who Would Hold You If The Sky Betrayed Us?', by ever inventive THUS OWLS, gently takes everyone keen, for forward propulsion, on a soft journey to places they dream about and beyond. Erika Angell (lyrics and vocals, synth and piano) and cohorts, have created a recording that sits atop a mountain so far into the clouds, and it may never be surpassed.

Amazing music and effort to simply turn you into a captive statue while absorbing this masterpiece. I do not use the term loosely, as the ever infusion of music here is such that it takes several listens to allow proper consumption. This is huge in so many methods. It ranks as a modern 2022 Canadian tempest, so profound and inside a jaw-dropper framework, even a written review is less than adequate. However, this is an intended effort to do such. Conjure Kate Bush, chamber oddity, theatrical stage Laurie Anderson gone even far past her boundaries, howling voices from caves around the globe to be recognized, with a prized collection of musicians that not only catapulted Thus Owl into a unknown orbit, but took no fear into the places this new release would travel. Amazing zones and crawl to a new soil, with the crush of new breakdown of rebirth, and all nearby, the bones that still go back to earth and laugh at death. Trespass this absolute allowable outland set of works, that keep unforgettable melodies, a hand full of hooks, and all regions of 'out music' that bring together the avant and the progressives, plus the curious of new music to one spot, where all can enjoy innovation in the purity of great music, as it should be.

The outfit began with the core of Swedish-Canadian couple Erika and Simon Angell. The fifth release by the Montreal group consists of:
Erika Angell - Vocals, Synths, Piano
Simon Angell - Guitars, Synths, Synth Bass,  Electric Bass (track 8), Vocals (track 9,10)
Samuel Joly - Drums, Vocals (track 9,10).
Claire Devlin - Tenor Saxophone, Vocals (track  9,10)
Adam Kinner - Tenor Saxophone, Vocals (track  9,10)
Jason Sharp - Bass Saxophone, Modular  Processing (track 7,13), Vocals (track 9,10)
Marc-André Landry - Electric Bass (track 3, 12)

So many credits are given for the music (as Thus Owls is a complete unit).  All the songs are composed, arranged and produced by Thus Owls. Erika Angell write all the lyrics and she is the main lead singer, who fans often ask if they are more spellbound by her words and voice or the music that spins a magic web around her. Additional specific credits are for the composing of 'Heather' by Thus Owls and Jason Sharp. 'Wavelet; was composed by Thus Owls, Claire Devlin,  Adam Kinner, and Jason Sharp. You will notice a trio of sax players who do the special melting of horns into the music, and how each musician acts as an independent composer. This is the special formula of Thus Owls, who put their music together in a way to always be able to pull it apart and rework it into different pieces of art.

Some ask how such velvet beauty can be combined with celestial or avant chamber enigma, but this magical title is all of that and impossible to file in a common library. But please make room for it, as you will not hear such as this again, and to even own it is a once in a lifetime prize.  'Who Would Hold You If The Sky Betrayed Us?' is Thus Owls most unbelievable yet. Grab on to this mutant vision in the best sense of the word. A big bang of all things great. ABSOLUTELY MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and PAST THAT!!!

©Reviewed by Lee Henderson  6 - 12 - 2022