Fauness The Golden Ass (Gold)

The Golden Ass is a dreamy electroacoustic infusion of folk, country, pop and soft rock, with an undercurrent of ambient, sometimes psychedelic melancholy. Listen closely and you'll hear traces of the millennial RnB that soundtracked her teen years. Her biggest influences are three singers who all arose in the 1970s: Sandy Denny, Bonnie Raiit and the lesser known Valerie Carter. Crackling vinyl atmospherics, a Roland CR-78 drum machine, and a sample of a bong being pulled leads the buzzed tempo of teen angst and emotional numbing on "Grape & Grain". Live drums and a solid groove carry "High" through a late-night slow dance, as Cora's layered vocals recall snapshots from an aimless walk at dusk. At once deeply personal and universal in it's themes, the record is a gorgeous journey deep into the mind of a perpetual outsider. Mirren Kessling's cover - featuring a nude Fauness with shiny latex gloves and thigh-highs, while embracing a donkey - reminds us that no-one's ever lonely in the worlds we create for ourselves.