Mount Eerie
Sauna
P.W. ELVERUM & SUN
6/10
Phil Elverum has a way of creating minimal style music that makes a huge sonic impact. The subtlety of Mount Eerie’s songs as they creep into a listener’s eardrums feels much like the slow process of sleeping, and then having the wildest, most vivid dreams. As with his previous efforts, Sauna tries to create spaces that are both thought-provoking and confounding, but sometimes can’t completely connect. Elverum lures listeners in slowly in the title track, using the songs that follow as a way to create a quiet zen-like atmosphere. The ethereal voices of “Dragon” keep one in that space, dwelling on the lingering notes. The illusion shatters suddenly with clashes and distorted sounds like in “Emptiness” or the more prominent “This.” At first Sauna’s tracks seem a bit boring and monotonous due to their seemingly infinite lengths, but, with a closer listen, the album builds its own state of consciousness with layers of intense and profound musical compositions.
