The Bath cover

The Bath

Released

The tranquil beauty of Emma Houton’s vocal harmonies, self-recorded here in eight parts a cappella, would be enough to make her work worth attention. But this debut release does not settle for ambient sameness; instead, she shapes her singing into a varied and rewarding landscape. “Bow and Balance” is the center of gravity, where an Irish murder ballad holds the foreground while the background vocals develop from a simple repeating pattern into a panorama of luminous sound.

Sean Wood

Recommended by

Suggestions
Fons Luminis: Codex Las Huelgas cover

Fons Luminis: Codex Las Huelgas

Dominique Vellard, Ensemble Gilles Binchois
Linda Catlin Smith: Dark Flower cover

Linda Catlin Smith: Dark Flower

Thin Edge New Music Collective
Outerborough cover

Outerborough

Todd Reynolds, Paul de Jong
Nostalgia cover

Nostalgia

Hania Rani
Smiley Smile cover

Smiley Smile

The Beach Boys
A Warm Weather Ghost cover

A Warm Weather Ghost

Babatunde Adebimpe
Live at Fondation Louis Vuitton cover

Live at Fondation Louis Vuitton

Colin Currie, Synergy Vocals, Steve Reich
Night Reign cover

Night Reign

Arooj Aftab
Arvo Pärt: Tintinnabuli cover

Arvo Pärt: Tintinnabuli

Peter Phillips, The Tallis Scholars
Five-Pointed Star cover

Five-Pointed Star

The Quadraphonnes, Andrew Durkin