Lancashire & Somerset Records proudly bring you the debut self-titled album from HARESS.
Haress consists of the core guitar duo of David Hand and Elizabeth Still, based in Bishops Castle in the Shropshire Hills.
They intertwine dark and repetitive electric guitar figures to create a hypnotic, mantra-like state, the playing working on a kind of unspoken telepathy until it’s impossible for the onlooker to work out which player is responsible for which sound amid the warm, enveloping hum of valve amps.
For their debut LP release, Haress have expanded this duo to include additional drums from David Smyth (Kling Klang, Mind Mountain), guitar and Echoplex from Chris Summerlin (Kogumaza, Grey Hairs, Hey Colossus), vocals from Thomas House (Sweet Williams, Charlottefield) and trumpet from Nathan Bell (Lungfish, Human Bell). The album was recorded with Phil Booth at JT Soar in Nottingham.
This large ensemble loses none of Haress’ intimacy and instead decorates the songs with sympathetic colour and light. The results are lovingly rendered and share a genuinely magical recording process with the listener, allowing them to experience the same moments of surprise as the band did when committing this music to tape.
The results are purposefully difficult to pigeonhole but recall Ry Cooder’s “Paris, Texas” soundtrack, latter-day Earth, Papa M or even the repetition of Sahara blues but always filtered through a warm, rural sensibility. House’s vocals are a particular revelation, his soft vowels and delivery falling somewhere between Robert Wyatt, Mark Hollis and the role of cosmic observer that Ozzy Osbourne played so well on ‘Planet Caravan’.
Put simply, this is the sound of an ensemble of close friends on top of their game, embracing accident and luck and playing with true love and joy.
This S/T LP is available in a limited edition of 300 copies on transparent turquoise vinyl housed (in traditional Lancashire & Somerset style) in a beautiful custom sleeve.
releases March 13, 2019
credits
released March 13, 2019
Elizabeth Still – Guitar, Organ, Vocals, Percussion, Harmonium
David Hand – Guitar, Percussion, Shruti
David Smyth – Drums
Chris Summerlin – Guitar, Echoplex, Electric Piano, Percussion
Thomas House – Vocals
Nathan Bell – Trumpet on “Wind The Bobbin”
Recorded and mixed by Phil Booth at JT Soar, Nottingham.
Mastered by Peter Fletcher at Black Bay Studio, Isle Of Lewis.
Sleeve by David Hand
I saw Haress support Godspeed in Coventry over the weekend and haven't been able to stop myself thinking about their set. It doesn't surprise me that they turn out to be from Bishop's Castle because this is what the welsh border sounds like. Uncanny, unsettling, beautiful. Wonderful discovery, SteveC
A new compilation of studio recordings and live rarities captures another side of ’90s experimentalists Gastr del Sol. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 27, 2024
extraordinary... mesmerising. I mean, just wow. Power through repetition. Almost tribal. You can tell these are real band performances. No doubt there are some overdubs, but minimal I would guess. I hope they record another album like this... and soon. DrOz