Hilary Woods has had one of the more unlikely career arcs in recent music history, evolving from her stint as bassist in the buzzy post-Britpop trio JJ72 at the turn of the millennium to solo work continually burrowing deeper into the most shrouded crevices of drone, ambient, and neoclassical darkwave. After two records that removed her vocals from the equation, Woods returns this Halloween with her first lyrical album since 2020’s Birthmarks with the equally sparse Night CRIÚ, a creaking haunted house of a record brought to life with the help of former David Lynch co-conspirator Dean Hurley.
Following the brooding, cello- and harp-heavy lead single “Endgames,” “Taper” arrives today as a (relatively) light affair—both in terms of instrumentation and subject matter. “‘Taper’ is a song that honors a presence to one that is absent,” Woods cryptically shares of the hauntological recording. “A love song that only a children’s choir could express fully, it was a real joy to work with the Hangleton Brass Band on this one.”
Check out the track below, paired with old archival footage and Woods’ own eerie 8mm and 16mm photo and video recordings, and pre-order Night CRIÚ ahead of its October 31 release via the ever-spooky Sacred Bones Records here.
