Showcasing two hard to find collaborative projects of the late Jhonn Balance, Griefis a beautiful and moving tribute to the man. Funereal statues shot inblack and white on both sides of the picture disc set the tone of themusic etched into its surface.
Divine Frequency
"Grief” sees Balance lending his voice to a stark, moody rendition of the William Hope Hodgson poem of the same name. The track originally appeared on Tactile’s album Borderlands.Hodgson’s poem sounds like something that Balance himself would write.It is heavy in symbolism and in ambience. John Everall’s musiccomplements both Balance’s voice and the text exceptionally well. Theshifting drones give the feeling of being in some strange borderland,whether it is between dimensions or between life and death I do notknow, it is both unsettling and comforting.
The other side of the single is Rosa Mundi’s interpretation of theChristmas song “The Snowman” which was originally released on The Final Solsticecompilation. Balance sings it in a much lower key compared to the morefamiliar version. Rose McDowall adds an ethereal echo to the words, hervoice is fragile and delicate next to Balance’s warm and sure tones.The song retains some of its seasonal spirit but much like “Grief” theimagery and music give a much more surreal interpretation. I imagineshimmering landscapes and Lovecraftian dream worlds more than men madeout of packed ice with carrots for noses.
It is nice to see such great and unfortunately hard to find musicgetting a reissue, especially when it’s been done so strikingly andwith obvious reverence for the material.
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