Furling

In the two decades since co-founding Philadelphia's psychedelic folk explorers Espers, Baird has released notable solo recordings Dear Companion (2007), Seasons on Earth (2011) and Don't Weigh Down the Light (2015), but she's mostly been a committed collaborator with the likes of Steve Gunn and Will Oldham. She's also explored her familial folk roots in The Baird Sisters, worked with harpist Mary Lattimore, played drums with Philadelphia punks Watery Love and contributed drumming, vocals and poetry to Heron Oblivion with her partner Charlie Saufley.

Many of these strands come together here on a determinedly solo collection co-produced and recorded in California with Sauflley, mostly before March 2020. She plays drums, mellotron, organs, synths, and vibraphone (in homage to her hero Tim Buckley?), and sings over a foundation of her acclaimed fingerstyle guitar and, a new infatuation, piano. Despite the slightly ominous tone of the trippy instrumental opener ‘Ashes, Ashes’, the tone of proceedings here is mostly warm and intimate, seductively blending English folk with a woozy mellowness that's sometimes akin to Harvest-era Neil Young and overlaying Baird's idiosyncrasies to craft a trip to somewhere heady and slightly strange but nonetheless compelling.