by David Wilikofsky
Vines may be the debut album for Damiana, but the artists behind the group will be familiar to many listeners. Natalie Chami creates solo music as TALsounds and plays in Good Willsmith, while Whitney Johnson performs solo as Matchess and has collaborated with artists such as Ryley Walker and Circuit Des Yeux. The two initially met in the early 2010s; after multiple tours together and years of live sets and informal home recordings,Vines represents both the culmination of their collaboration and their first formal recorded offering as a duo. It’s an album of gentle, enveloping improvisations that was well worth the wait.
There’s a lot to appreciate about the way Chami and Johnson construct the four tracks that comprise their debut album. At a micro level, there are some breathtaking moments in each composition; for example, the beginning of “Wrap The Sky” sounds like a gentle Vespertine era Björk outtake, and the first few minutes of “Under An Aster” could easily pass for a Julia Holter song. But from a more macro perspective, these are compositions that slowly develop and mutate, drawing you into their worlds. The heavenly opening chorus of “Under An Aster” eventually blasts skyward, buoyed by twinkling synth lines. The languid, melodic viola and synths of “Melted Reach” slowly devolve into fractured chaos. The initially prominent percussion of “Wrap The Sky” gradually fades away, transforming the track from plodding motion to a beautiful, melancholic stasis. This clear sense of narrative animates each track, imbuing each note a sense of purpose.
I’ve often found that albums that come with descriptors like “electo-acoustic improvisations” are easier to appreciate than enjoy, but Vines does not fall into that category. This is nourishing music. Maybe this is due to the obvious chemistry between Chami and Johnson, who always seem to be effortlessly in sync, or perhaps it’s because of the gentle, soft aesthetic they’re exploring. But whatever the reason, the end results of their collaboration exude a warmth and confidence that’s hard to understate; even in its harshest moments, it feels inevitable that the chaos will eventually abate. It’s an album that has kept me reaching for it again and again over the past month. I’m willing to bet it’ll cast a spell on you too.