Diamond Mine
is the work or maybe I should say the pleasure of King Creosote & Jon Hopkins. Pleasure in the sense that the Diamond Mine was recorded over a few years. With no deadline to meet the project became a loved piece of work that was examined and built upon at each new re-aquaintance of the artists adding character along with a uniqueness that only comes with age.
There is certain welcoming familiarity about Diamond Mine, like a fire to warm yourself by after a long walk out in the cold winter rain. The selection of tracks from King Creosote’s prolific 20 year, 40 album back catalogue are invited into a new realm of texture and field recordings. Those unique field recordings offer a reality on which to lay songs upon. They take you inside the solitude of the singer, an overwhelming experience which is played upon and accented by the emotive instruments of piano and violin.
Whether it’s the opening cafe chat of a waitress on First Watch or the birdsong and flowing river on Running on Fumes the effect is immediate. You are transported by those everyday sounds. This added dimension will make you listen all the more intently to the lyrics. It heightens the senses so that when you do hear the solo violin outro on Your Own Spell you will be moved beyond words.
I’ve replayed this album several times and on each new listen another small accent of sound emerges revealing a new angle or depth of colour. Recordings of bike wheels turning, chatter, nature… create one of most delicate of canvases to paint upon. This is one of the most beautiful albums I’ve heard, how else can I say it? It’s pointless me adding anymore for fear of spoiling it for you. It’s my album of the week and yes, it has moved me close to tears on every listen…
You can hear what I’m getting so sentimental about in full below…you can’t not be moved by it.
Buy it now: Diamond Mine