Cross Record
Wabi-Sabi
BA DA BING
6/10
In Dripping Springs, Texas, where Emily Cross recently relocated with her husband/bandmate Dan Duszynski, it’s not all that uncommon to run across scorpions. One day, Cross found two waiting for her toes in the couple’s bathtub. Her photo of thearachnid pair now adorns the cover of Cross Record’s sophomore album, Wabi-Sabi, a record that regularly brings its own kind of crawling sting to its nine tracks. Regularly plunging in dark atmospherics with woozy, minimalist samples, molasses thick bass, and upending distortion—all against Cross’ breathy, vocal calm—the whole endeavor alternates between something eerie, aggressive, and serene, sometimes blending both in the same song. While Wabi-Sabi‘s wounded specter aesthetic keeps it from becoming a work of frequently repeated listens, it’s probably not healthy for most people seeking an emotional purge to keep picking at scar tissue anyway.
