The Bath cover

The Bath

Released

The tranquil beauty of Emma Houton’s vocal harmonies, self-recorded here in eight parts a cappella, would be enough to make her work worth attention. But this debut release does not settle for ambient sameness; instead, she shapes her singing into a varied and rewarding landscape. “Bow and Balance” is the center of gravity, where an Irish murder ballad holds the foreground while the background vocals develop from a simple repeating pattern into a panorama of luminous sound.

Sean Wood

Recommended by

Suggestions
Jistebnický Kancionál cover

Jistebnický Kancionál

Barbora Kabátková, Tiburtina Ensemble
Lassus: Chansons cover

Lassus: Chansons

Dominique Visse, Ensemble Clément Janequin
Saccades cover

Saccades

Ocen James, Rian Treanor
Lúireach cover

Lúireach

Landless
Is That So? cover

Is That So?

Shankar Mahadevan, John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain
No End cover

No End

Keith Jarrett
Lucrezia Borgia’s Daughter: Princess, nun and musician cover

Lucrezia Borgia’s Daughter: Princess, nun and musician

Deborah Roberts, Musica Secreta, Celestial Sirens, Laurie Stras
Shawnee, Ohio cover

Shawnee, Ohio

Brian Harnetty
Modern Music cover

Modern Music

Brad Mehldau, Kevin Hays, Patrick Zimmerli