Drummer Jim White and guitarist Marisa Anderson have crafted such a distinctive sound on their respective instruments and as soon as their second album begins, there can be no mistaking them. Like 2020’s The Quickening, Swallowtail is a duo record in the truest sense, with no other contributors present, but this feels like a very different set to their debut, with spikier songs like that album’s Last Days absent in favour of a more consistent free-flowing meditation.
Recorded off the coast of Victoria, Australia, with a focus on improvisation and musical conversation, Swallowtail subtly ebbs and flows in its structure, mimicking the sea, with the shifts in tempo and mood happening gradually, almost to avoid disturbing the environment around the sound. This style is present from the off, with Anderson’s guitar on opener Aerie coming in like morning light, soft and glittering. White’s drums have more weight to them than the guitar, but the touch is still quite gentle, with the beats opening up as the song develops and allowing space into the sound.
The main body of the album consists of Bitterroot Valley, a suite of music split into three parts. Water is a real beauty, with the softest of guitar hammer-ons creating a stuttering rhythm that the drums lock into. Anderson continues playing a shimmering guitar line, with lovely bass notes peppering the bars, while White finds a sturdy rhythm and has fun knocking cymbals, disrupting his pattern.
Tree sees Anderson’s guitar playing a slightly more spare part, which in turn allows the drums to fill some of the space. The pair seem happy to tangle themselves around the other’s notes on this one, giving the piece a knottier feel before White’s snare brings in some snarl. Further on, although the above suite occupies the trunk of the set, Peregrine feels like the key track. Running at over ten minutes, this one has plenty of time to establish itself and does so with sparse playing, Anderson picking lines at leisure, creating cyclical clusters of mesmerising notes that White’s drums dance around in places, step away from in others and then return to with more fire. The freedom the duo have is best demonstrated here, with each seemingly comfortable to play in their own way, while knowing the other is sympathetic to the music and will adjust to fit. It’s a song that encapsulates everything I love about improvised instrumental music and it defines an album of quiet assurance and power.
Swallowtail is due for release on May 10th via Thrill Jockey
Pre-Order: Bandcamp | Thrill Jockey
Jim White and Marisa Anderson duo tour dates
May 3 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue #
May 4 – Fargo, ND – The Hall at Fargo Brewing #
May 9 – Philadelphia, PA – Solar Myth
May 11 – Yellow Springs, OH – The Foundry Theater
May 12 – Detroit, MI – Trinosophes
May 13 – Chicago, IL – Constellation
May 16 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge ^
May 17 – Keene, NH – Thing in the Spring ^
May 18 – Montreal, QC – Lion D’or ^
May 20 – Portland, OR – Holocene ^
May 22 – Seattle, WA – Rabbit Box ^
May 23 – Vancouver, BC – Coastal Jazz @ St James Hall ^
May 24 – San Diego, CA – The Loft ^
May 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon ^
May 26 – Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Music Hall ^
Jun. 4 – Kingston NY – Tubby’s *
Jun. 5 – Washington, DC – Rhizome*
Jun. 6 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall *
Jun. 9 – Durham, NC – The Pinhook *
Jun. 11 – Athens, GA – Flicker Theater *
Jun. 15 – Nashville, TN – The Blue Room *
Jun. 23 -Paonia CO – Bross Hotel *
- Marisa Anderson solo
# Marisa Anderson solo w/ Charlie Parr
^ co-headline w/ Myriam Gendron