For their seventh album, New Zealand duo Claypipe brought their instruments to the beaches of Dunedin, where they explored their signature improvised noise drone among the ocean waves, sand and birds.
The majority of A Daylight Blessing pulses with the ethereal hypnotism of Spacemen 3‘s Dreamweapon, though at times becomes a folky Flying Saucer Attack, blending repetitive acoustic guitars with monotone electronics. The title track is perhaps the most typically musical, dominated by strummed guitar, bass and a distorted voice wafting just beneath it all, acting as another instrument to convey an emotion rather than a vehicle for lyrics. On both “Shifting Sands #1” and the closing “Shifting Sands #2,” the ocean, and possibly wind, create a backdrop of static for the guitars and what sounds like a recorder or pan flute. Though a sense of serenity floats above the tracks, an underlying darkness pervades the record, like the sad loneliness of standing on an empty beach at sunset and thinking you’re the last person left alive.
Through Claypipe, music translates as raw feeling, making A Daylight Blessing a journey of pure thought. Step into their world, where colors, shapes and shades aren’t something we see, but things we experience within us.
