Unzip the Horizon

Unzip the Horizon is a remarkable document for many reasons. First and foremost there is Moira Smiley's voice, which commands attention by virtue of its mellifluous tone, impressive range and unfaltering application. There are 14 compositions here, which describe personal journeys and convey a sense of the desperate plight, profound imagination and capacity for regeneration within the human species. Steeped in the work of early music and contemporary classical composers, such as Hildegard von Bingen, Arvo Pärt and Louis Andriessen, Smiley channels millennia-old dissonant harmonies and melodic lessons from Eastern Europe with the shape-note singing tradition of colonial-era America. A multi-instrumentalist who excels on banjo, accordion and piano, Smiley is also a skilled ‘hambonist’ – the hambone (or Juba dance) being an African American style of body percussion. Smiley's body serves as the most intimate and sympathetic accompanist, while the album's guest artists include Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Leah and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia, Anna & Elizabeth and Sam Lee. For all sorts of reasons, Unzip the Horizon is a sublime tapestry of 21st-century world music and a poetic testament to the transformative nature of singing the truth.