Ground Our Sky (CD)
Saariselka
Amoeba Review
07/28/2020
Saariselka’s Chuck Johnson and Marielle V Jakobsons (Date Palms) have created a work of stunning, fragile beauty on their debut LP, The Ground to Our Sky. Armed with a Fender Rhodes, organ, synthesizers (Jakonsons), pedal steel guitar and treatments (Chuck Johnson), the duo craft an intriguing fusion of Americana and ambient that sounds unlike anything else in recent memory. And that’s the strange thing — songs here are innovative and fresh, yet they seem to harken back to a distant, pagan past. Perhaps that’s due to the inspiration behind the album, the simple yet awesome way the earth meets the light, with references to the Aurora Borealis in particular. Glacial, lovely, and wild, fans of the experimental will rightly dig this excellent release.