Boa Morte – Signal: Lost – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Ambient folk band Boa Morte have returned with not one but two albums, this one and its companion due out in six months’ time. After the brief intro on April 22, it starts proper with The Following On, winsome guitar accompanied by percussion sounds and Ruxton’s sweet vocals. The trick with these guys is they use their songs as a ‘jumping-off’ point to evolve into an all-encompassing, enveloping sound.  That’s how this one develops; it’s a really fine piece of music.

There are many Eno-like interludes which round out the album, such as Approaching Reality and the nominative determinism of Nice Vibes.  This makes for a continuous, cohesive listen.  Gahan takes the lead vocal on sweet-sounding Dream State, joined by Hilary Bow as the track morphs into a gorgeous drift; there’s even a wee bit of saxophone.  Bow again contributes to Song Is, keyboards and guitar with haunting vocals, and a gorgeous guitar coda.

Bird is probably their most indie-rock song ever, with a strummed electric guitar and barely decipherable vocals.  It finishes with The Garden Part 2 (part one appeared on 2019’s Before There Was Air), another haunting piece of music; it morphs into different movements before resolving into a blissed-out coda harnessing the brass and all the other instruments.

It’s a great-sounding album, with lovely production by James Darkin and the band. This is definitely one of the more esoteric albums you’ll hear this year.  And the good news is they’ve promised a companion follow-up in March.

The Following On