Tendrils is the second album from Old Man of the Woods, the experimental project of Seattle, USA-based multidisciplinary artist Miranda Elliott.

By Graeme Smith

The album opens with the ambient experimentation of Amber. The track drones with electronic hiss, textured with pulsating moments and barely perceptible vocalisations. It’s dense and intriguing, setting up an album that pushes the envelope sonically.

Anticipating livens things up with a bouncy electronic dance number that combines move-inducing groove with gentle and provocative vocals. There’s a sultriness to it that will get pulses racing. Anonymity then slows things down again during an immersive number.

Jellyfish strips things right back for a meditative moment. Abide kicks things back up for a moody odyssey with some visceral lyrics. Over nine minutes it lulls into a trance. Mystery has an ecclesiastically cosmic feel to it while Meditation is a richly percussive closer.

This album certainly won’t be for everyone. Old Man of the Woods tests the boundaries of what music can be. If you’re open to it, you’ll find a lot of rewards in its varied seven tracks. If you read this blog a lot, you’ll know I love an artist who is unafraid of doing their own thing. Miranda Elliott does that in abundance.

Recorded while an artist in residence with Culterim Gallery at a lakeside former sanatorium in Biesenthal, Germany, Tendrils is out now via New York, USA-based Totally Real Record. You can give it a listen below.