Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Our collective experience at this time is one that hopefully we will never have to feel again, it is built on foundations of falseness, of impurity, and one that can make a simple gesture make us feel as though we have connected upon a realm of spiritual enlightenment; such declarations are only a shadow. However, a real sense of Closeness is at hand, if we should recognise the signs, there is a purpose, an intimacy of clarification and insight waiting; it just depends if we have the fortitude and the understanding to be as one, to be co-operative with nature, going forward.
The Pennsylvanian duo of Devin Tuel and Stephen Harms have certainly exemplified Closeness in their time as a recording pair, the wealth of harmony and spirit they have brought to the audience’s attention is staggering, and in their latest pursuit and record, they have once again clasp the hands of the immaculate beauty and the soul of humanity that resides in us all if we look for it.
Produced completely by the pair and engineered with pure elation by Alex Hall, this fourth album reflects wonderfully the way in which the pair explore the relationship between the fragile nature of life, the way sometimes our ego will insist that we are the master of Time, yet every day the clocks ticks away from the moment we may have last felt peace, that we may have last proclaimed love.
The human ego, when turned on itself, refuses to believe that we must continually work on those aspects to feel close to people; the longer we leave an important phone call or personal face to face meeting to rectify an issue, to tell them we love them, the harder it becomes to deal with the self-inflicted pain of the denial of that closeness we seek.
The collection of songs is not only relentless, they capture a beauty and profound duty which the listener not only expects, but revels in when they hear it in such stirring detail, and in tracks such as the album opener, Shake, The Dying of Ages, If I Could, Even Peace, Sun Queen and Feeling Blue, Native Harrow frame their sound in absolute truth and openness.
Happier Now? Well Closeness is as near to musical euphoria as you can ask for, truly and utterly inspiring.
Native Harrow release Closeness on the 18th September via Loose.
Ian D. Hall