Doran

Freak-folk quartet Doran took a unique tack when writing their self-titled debut. In January 2019, in an attic in rural Virginia, the group explored a range of creative prompts: tarot readings, broth-making, burying themselves in leaves and writing songs on unfamiliar instruments. Conceptual as these practices may seem, you can feel the impacts of each activity across the record, which is spiritual and warm, earthy and unusual.

Bookended by the opening hums of ‘Deer People’ and its accompanying reprise, the sound of Doran is a patchwork of global folk-singing styles and sparse instrumentation inspired by the band’s interests, which cover Celtic myths, performance art and traditional music from the US and the Ukraine. Combining most clearly Appalachian balladry with layers of Eastern European polyphony, ‘Old Moon’ braids delicate a cappella vocals into rich, full-bodied harmonies, while ‘Arbegen’ evokes a Gothic Romanian basilica via Annie Schermer’s mesh of violins. Singer Elizabeth LaPrelle (of Anna & Elizabeth) offers a ruminative solo on ‘Down the Road’, swapping her banjo for a mountain dulcimer despite no previous experience with the instrument. Doran makes for a fascinating listen, viewing well-trodden styles through an abstract lens, creating a sound that’s as strange as it is familiar.