Bloom
Released
Armenian American singer-songwriter Areni Agbabian is equal parts Kate Bush and Meredith Monk, telling stories as much with words as without them. With only a piano at her hands and percussionist Nicolas Stocker at her side, she offers a cycle of moods, mantras, and messages. Agbabian impresses with her ability to handle themes from macro (“Mother”) to micro (“Seeing More”) with an equally thoughtful approach to shape and structure. Between those two poles, she and Stocker adlib interludes to indicate a world beyond the lyrical. And yet, words are always there, haunting the periphery with potential.