SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: EM SPEL – BIRD OR SNAKE

EM SPEL
BIRD OR SNAKE
BIRDWATCHER

What would be experimental folk exactly? As with any other genre, it would approximately mean that you as an artist are not taking the usual routes associated with such a genre, and it could be anything from bringing in elements from elsewhere, to not so usual performance, lyrics and anything else that might be considered ordinary.

You can get practically all of that on Bird or Snake, the second album by Chicago-based singer songwriter Emma Hospelhorn, who operates under the moniker of Em Spel. It is more or less all there – jazzy song structures, classical flutes, found sounds, subtle electronics, and lyrics that go into deeper subjects.

And while such a concept might sound heavy and complex on paper, Em Spel is able to blend everything together in an almost liquid manner that works and makes her music exactly what it should be – listenable and engaging.

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