Search - Vovete :: Providence

Providence is the debut album from New York duo, Vovete. Pianos and guitars join tambourines, drums, horns and strings, in lace-like patterns. A chorus of voices evokes ghostly, ominous lullabies in one moment, and counterpoint with precise rhythms, recalling sea chanties and minstrels, in another. Va La is a gem of baroque pop. Harps and strings interact with a sensual melody and artful percussion. The quiet supplications of Stay Awhile build to a crescendo of hopeful voices, and the ghostly choir of Shades & Shadows are incantations for guidance and protection. A Prayer for Good Hope builds from a lone voice into a choir of souls petitioning for remembrance. Three instrumental tracks on the album each create their own atmosphere, from the Neu-esque guitars and drums of In Passing, to the dialogue between piano and drums in the title track that takes a simple, Satie-like motif and transforms it through patterns of dissonance and echoes. The cover photograph by Marion Wilson captures a Rainbow Bee Eater poised on a branch with wings spread, in vibrant colors, while holding a fated bee in its beak. The metaphors of life and inevitable loss are fitting for the album's hymns. The back and inside cover art, as well as the CD art, are beautiful paintings by Robert Schatz. Powerful, graceful arabesques, full of movement, transform into landscapes that manage to be both beautiful and frightening, abstract and cartoon, ominous and enthralling.