FFWD REW

Amen Dunes – Through Donkey Jaw

Sacred Bones

This album from eerie folk balladeer Damon McMahon (a.k.a. Amen Dunes) has been out for several months now yet like anything characterized as a grower it only takes root if given time to spread its tendrils. McMahon’s morose approach to homespun psychedelia has earned him comparisons to Syd Barrett Skip Spence and other like-minded visionaries yet there’s undoubtedly an original voice to be found in his fragile glass-boned soundworld.

“Baba Yaga” opens the door to a familiar set of proceedings as an acoustic guitar and sighing violin swell to envelop McMahon’s forlorn refrain: “You know that I lie.” Donkey Jaw floats through empty bedrooms in subtle fashion until abruptly jolting into passages of atonal miasma like “Jill” “Lezzy Head” and standout “Good Bad Dreams” like a softer take on Scott Walker’s The Drift . A 10-minute wordless piece entitled “Tomorrow Never Knows” (not a Beatles cover by a long shot) ushers this séance to a close yet its spellbinding effects will linger into the night.

Tags: