Mount Wittenberg Orca
Dirty Projectors + Bjork
Since Dave Longstreth recruited the talents of Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian, and Haley Dekle, each Dirty Projectors release has become increasly focussed on intricate vocal harmonies. The girls were introduced in ‘Rise Above’ as an accompaniment to Longstreth, but with last year’s ‘Bitte Orca’, they were pushed to the forefront of the band’s sound and were an integral part of each track’s composition and arrangement.
‘Mount Wittenberg Orca’ takes this a step further by almost completely removing the rest of the band. The drums are muted, the guitar acoustic, with the most prominent instrument being the softly propulsive double bass. This is the sound of a 5 piece chamber choir, not a 5 piece rock band.
Speaking of those 5 people, Bjork features on a few of the tracks, in what feels like a totally fresh environment for her. After years of hearing Bjork’s voice amongst microsamples and drum machines, it’s captivating to hear it bare, with no processing, live in a room.
The combination of her singing and the harmonies of the Dirty Projectors girls works perfectly, Bjork provides a emotive element, which contrasts with the stacatto harmonies that often feel much more mechanical.
The EP tells the story of Amber observing a group of whales just off the Mount Wittenberg coast, with each vocalist taking the role of a different character. Because of this, the set of songs takes you on a journey, and each track has a distinctive character. It almost reminds me of Peter And The Wolf, where a story is told using various instrumentation to distinguish between characters.
Highlights for me are ‘On And Ever Onward’ where a playful Bjork introduces her family joined by her kids. Again, the light hearted tone of Bjork’s singing is a welcomed change.
‘Beautiful Mother’ showcases Longstreth’s use of vocalists as instruments. It almost sounds like a piece originally composed for a small string ensemble.
Below is a stream of the EP’s closing track, ‘All We Are’, where Longstreth and Bjork share the lead vocal duties, wrapping up the story where Amber searches for the whales but they are nowhere to be found.
Dirty Projectors + Björk- All We Are
This is already shaping up to be one of my favourite releases this year. The use of harmony is totally inspiring, and like nothing else I’ve heard before. This band really are in a league of their own.
You can get a copy of ‘Mount Wittenberg Orca’, and help save the oceans over at mountwittenbergorca.com/
