Guiltily listened to late (like all those under the #zot2017 label, after all).

Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me (P. W. Elverum & Sun, March 24, 2017)

The most difficult album of all for Phil Elverum aka Mount Eerie (formerly of The Microphones). "A Crow Looked At Me" is the album he wrote and recorded alone in the same room where his wife Geneviève passed away on July 9, 2016, after losing her battle against late-stage pancreatic cancer. All of this happened shortly after the couple had a daughter, literally upheaving his existence. Clearly, working on this album was somehow a way to react to the situation: Phil began writing and recording new material practically a month after his wife's death. But primarily, he considers these songs and the entire album a way to "shout" his love for Geneviève to the whole world. It surely must not have been an easy album to write, and the eleven songs contained in it show an inner suffering that might remind one of great artists from the sixties and seventies like Bill Fay or Roy Harper. Nonetheless, the arrangements are much more minimal, practically essential, but perhaps for this reason—beyond its emotional content—the album may be the best work Phil has ever created, finally moving away from that "indie" dimension and definition and fully entering the realm of recognized songwriter. Good luck.

#mounteerie #philelverum #folk

"Ravens" by Mount Eerie (official video)