As a member of the Roll Over Rover roster, a Bay Area based group of musicians headed by Sean McCann, Kellen Shipley continues in the label’s pioneering spirit of bridging the varied forms of experimental music with the pop medium so many embraced as children and have reluctantly held onto as tastes have shifted and moods changed. Deep Breaths, for all its avant pretense, finds Shipley comfortably navigating the choppy waters of blending fresh and salt water with a potent combination of carefully crafted drones amid churning pop melodies.
“Old Birds, New Nest” could do no more to cement the overtones of Kellen Shipley (Bats in the Belfry)’s solo debut. Rich drones mirroring the echo of submarine sonar blend with the raw sounds of Dave McPeters’ organ and bird chirps. The atmosphere is one of morning fog, blanketing the damp earth after a night of unrest as if to signify a new beginning—for Shipley and for the listener.
Deep Breaths maintains its spectral drone throughout its 18 minutes of meditative dismay, but it is what Shipley and his buddies produce under the suffocating mist that breeds warmth beneath the frozen tundra. “Above and the Below the Surface” begins where “Old Birds, New Nest” left off, utilizing a swirl of subtle guitar effects that mimic the sound of dew gently falling on the soft, morning soil. The peaceful mantra is interrupted with a poppy loop of psychedelic wah and hambone drums before the drone rises to swallow it whole. The same idea is presented within “My First Surfboard,” though the roles are reversed, with the drone becoming a silent partner as the Dave McPeters’ organ churns out a happy Monkey Grinder tune to compliment Shipley’s growling guitar.
It’s when Deep Breaths allows the drone to subside that the album finds its stride. “Shades and Shadows” hearkens to the solemn guitar dirges of Richard Thompson’s Grizzly Man and Neil Young’s Dead Man, as Roll Over Rover label head Sean McCann supplants Shipley’s metallic plucks with crying bows of viola, adding an emotional depth not unlike bagpipe versions of “Amazing Grace.” Bats in the Belfry bandmate, Ashlinn Smith joins Shipley on the spatial finale, “Solstice Day Parade.” Rather than pack the album back in drone Styrofoam, the two playfully intertwine halting guitar chimes with lilting notes from a pennywhistle, churning out an organic drone of nothing more than hushed feedback and calming breaths.
A strong blend of meditative drone and brooding guitar, Deep Breaths is the clichéd breath of fresh air in pop experimentation. No longer must popular and avant music hide their undying love, for Kellen Shipley has made it possible for both to walk hand-in-hand as the heavy fogs of drone roll in under the cover of night.
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