With the free time that I don’t have, I’ve begun volunteering for CHIRP Radio (part of the Chicago Independent Radio Project). One of the tasks I’ve been pitching in to help with is writing reviews of albums for their music library. So if you see short reviews like this, it’s not because I’ve become suddenly un-verbose; it’s just a review fitting the format they use.
Casey Dienel is the woman behind White Hinterland, having previously performed under her own name until 2008. While her recordings under her own name didn’t rise much above your typical lo-fi singer-songwriter sound, she’s found her niche in style with White Hinteland. Kairos fits right in with the rest of the light electronic music that has been dominating the music scene recently; opening track “Icarus” would sound right at home on a release by The xx, for example. With her voice layered over and over again on top of gentle bass lines, Dienel brings an atmospheric, if at times eerie sound to her music. The lyrics on Kairos show that Dienel is still close to her more folk-based roots, but the new direction in sound shows that she’s more than open to setting aside the guitar and piano for something a little more experimental.
Kairos is out today on Dead Oceans. White Hinterland will be playing at the Empty Bottle on April 15th with the epically bearded (Martin) Dosh.
White Hinterland: Official Website | MySpace