MMM: Lunistice Alignments

Gayle Brogan, Nick Jonah Davis and Elizabeth Still have spent years carving out their own sonic niches across the U.K.’s DIY experimental landscape.

Brogan’s endeavours, through the lens of Pefkin and Burd Ellen, where she has paired drone with mediative field recordings to great effect. The peak, via the former’s Unfurling (Morc Records), released earlier this year. Meanwhile, Jonah Davis and Still have evoked similar feelings through their art, albeit via different paths. Jonah Davis, through cinematic countrified atmospheres inspired by the past (Richard Thompson), and present (Ben Chasny); Still, with open, homespun warmth as the driving force in Haress and also in a solo capacity (the excellent Going for Home).

As MMM, the trio’s shared interest in the megaliths of the U.K is brought to life on Lunistice Alignments. Inspired by the Calanais Stones where every 18.6 years, the moment of a Major Lunar Standstill aligns with the cycles of the moon, Lunistice Alignments is MMM’s homage. Or in their own words, “Drones and tones inspired by stones”.

Recorded at the nearest studio to the site (Black Bay Studio on the Isle of Lewis in Outer Hebrides), while the drone is the foundation on Lunistice Alignments, the trio’s individual voices shine through at separates moments here.

On the eponymous opening piece, aesthetically, think Earth at a gallop. Still’s guitar line, underpinned by a Jonah Davis’ humid drones and Brogan’s nature-inspired field recordings. It’s quintessential headphones listening. Sounds, bouncing between channels before a hushed wordless vocal mediation brings the piece together as one.

Following is Hands to Stone, Eyes to Stars. Led by Brogan, her wordless vocalisation interlocks with a soft, cavernous drone that, in another world, could be mistaken for a Bonnacons of Doom interlude. And speaking of doom, MMM moving closer to its epicentre on Lunar Tempel. Its opening bars, echoing Sunn O)))’s Frost (C), as Brogan’s primal howl is like a summoning into the void.

Not before some cosmic wanderings outside of it. Starshift and Moonrise, captures moments its title suggests. With swelling synths, the vibrations move like electricity through your veins. Then there’s Horneblende and Quartz; pastoral post-rock led by Still whose rustic riffs are so distinct, alongside Jonah Davis, the pair muster textural bliss.

Following Horneblende and Quartz is closing cut, The Re-Gleam, where the trio meander through the same tall grass. The locality, vibrant where tranquil imagery and the scent of country air transcends the music. MMM, drawing the same emotional response as the likes of droneroom, SUSS and Old Saw. Brogan, Jonah Davis and Still, artists who put great emphasis on evading external pressures in favour of inward catharsis. And on Lunistice Alignments they reach deep parts of it.

Lunistice Alignments is out now. Purchase from Bandcamp.