Left Vessel – One (and Driftless)
GiftShop Records – 25 June 2021
Over the years, artists have been known to record in nature, some have even recorded the sounds of nature, but on One (and Driftless), Left Vessel uses nature as the instrument. Creating an Arbow, effectively a stringed tree (with no harm being done to it – see video below), Left Vessel mainstay Nick Byron Campbell plucks or bows to create something totally different and unique. Campbell relates, “I was literally recording among the trees and with them, and that deeply influenced the meanings of those pieces of music as I reflected on climate change and humanity’s relationship with the world around us that we are irrevocably a part of, despite the common but absurd belief that somehow we are separate from nature.”
There’s a haunting beauty to the album that is a direct result of the decision to create many sounds totally connected to the natural world. The eerily awesome sounds of Arbow, along with a variety of other sounds recorded in a rural museum, begin “Society,” a song that deals with the notion of “how do we harmonize with each other as people and how do those societies harmonize with nature?” Campbell’s answers aren’t necessarily obvious, but he’s beginning to appreciate that according to his reading, “Trees are fucking amazing, man. They have relationships and live lives that could be considered meaningful.”
Campbell’s ability to connect with emotions on a level that is rarely thought about makes the album unique. “Your Winter” plays out amidst Arbow and guitar as he relates how a situation with his grandmother related directly to his own love life. She “was also going through this romantic breakup that feels like something we only experience in younger years, and I was also going through something similar but felt like I was actually getting a chance to start life fresh and live anew—which ended up being very true and wonderful.” That generational aspect makes the song’s chorus, “Your winter is my summer, babe”, so much more meaningful.
On an album filled with so many unusual moments, “Please Don’t Stop” is one of the most direct pleas you’ll ever hear. Combining acoustic guitar with piano and straightforward drum work, Campbell and a chorus of voices sing what is perhaps the records simplest lyric, “It would break my heart/Tear me apart/ If you should depart.” The beauty wrapped up in those lyrics is undeniable.
Impending disaster fills the lines of “Put the Divorce on the Credit Card.” Amidst an arrangement that emphasizes staccato strings, the intimate, unfulfilled nature of a relationship comes into focus. The title alone casts a wry eye at the proceedings. Even more telling are the final lines played out against solo guitar, “Oh no what will they do?/ With no one left to sell to/ Start a war or walk out the door?”
On One (and Driftless) Left Vessel has found a way to mine two seams simultaneously, providing us with a literate worldview, while melding much of the album within a natural framework that has never been realized before.
https://leftvessel.bandcamp.com/releases