paper dollhouse: aeonflower

An exploration of warped, dream-like atmosphere and taught, noise-ingrained electronics, Paper Dollhouse has evolved from the solo work of Astrud Steehouder into an expansive, cinematic project now involving visual artist Nina Bosnic. Recorded with a stronger focus on electronic processes and with a deeper, light-starved aesthetic, Aeonflower's emboldened use of crushed-noise dynamics takes the London-based group's acclaimed 2012 debut, A Box Painted Black, into darker, murkier, and more thrilling territory. Aeonflower is the slow descent of a newly discorporated spirit into a fogged, neon lagoon, a drowned world still lit. If the first album was a box of raw secrets with hints of obscured folk roots, Aeonflower is the endless rain of expression, experience, and change. On this outing, both artists' vocals are expressive, forgoing complex lyrical concerns for minimal text invested with emotive power. Opener "Oracle" bleeds into "Stand," with the first of Steehouder's haunted vocals, a fragile minimalism augmented by barren guitar. "Helios" sees a drum machine kick and ride cymbal pin down a dark, enveloping vocal duet until "Psyche" obliterates it all with billowing noise, a thrilling shock to the system. The swirling synths and suppressed emotion of "Your Heart" peak in the centerpiece "Diane," a shadowy piece highlighting Steehouder's minimalist approach. Side two acts as a mini-suite, with Diamanda Galás-inspired vocal abstractions and walls of sound coming down with standout ambient track "Black Flowers." Dark and light interplay beautifully on album closer "Siren," a turbulent if ambiguous build-up of harmony and noise.