Windy & Carl - We Will Always Be (Double vinyl LP, CD)

Windy and Carl are back with their first album in three years. Nice to see that there are some people who still take their time over these things. This husband and wife team have created some astounding sonic architecture in the past with their neofolk-inflected minimal-ambient drone. After a surprisingly folky beginning where fragile guitar and mournful vocals over nostalgic crackles carve out an aching sense of pathos, they continue treading that path quite expertly on this latest collection, with dense, calming drone textures through which you can pick out snippets of piano and bass and guitar as the ethereal washes morph elusively. Predominantly, though, this record is all about the drones. The twinkly, fragmented, layered drones that lift you up to somewhere more peaceful and detached. They're always of the tranquil and celestial variety, though; no dark, grinding, twitching ambience here, just comforting, immersive, calming tones with occasional folky touches. Delightful.