Perth psych duo Erasers’ debut LP, Stem Together, doesn’t so much instill a trance of consciousness as it does construct a completely alternate universe of nothingness. From front to back, the building, sustenance and layering of sound is wholly effective in engulfing not only the listener, but the entire room. The warming synth, airy phasing and ritualistic vocals of tracks like “By Your Side”, “Returning Home”, and “Leaves” simultaneously empty one’s mind of anything here and now, while filling the entirety of being with a constancy of sound that is almost spiritual in its experience. The unchanging, minimalist percussion (and sometimes no percussion at all, as on “Bright Points”) compliment an uneasy mood and leave the bulk of focus on the huge, encompassing sound of synth drone and Rebecca Orchard’s atmospheric chants. Spurts of reverbed guitar enter sparsely to break up any sense of monotony, its twang offsetting the hum of the environment, and giving an unknowable shape to things. The record ends and the absence of its resonance, is not only noticeable, but profound.
Stem Together is out September 25 on Fire Talk. You can stream it below.
