Yawning Chasm

"The Shadow That Is Hidden" 3" CDR

Rusted Rail

Genre: psych folk, folk

Galway, Ireland

December 2009

It's no secret I've got a major woody for the Rusted Rail label, and with that said, I think Yawning Chasm's distressingly brief EP might be their best release thus far. In just these six brief songs, Aaron M Coyne has crafted a hauntingly exquisite work of personal, idiosyncratic psych-folk. Employing little more than his strummed electric guitar and his sublimely understated, Kozelek-meets-early-Callahan voice, Coyne designs passionate and memorable songs that come off as original despite their minimalist composition. The brief CDR reaches its summit with the resplendently longing "Monsters," which weds a radiant yet low-key guitar line to a sweet vocal melody. It's a mesmerizingly pretty work that recalls work by the Red House Painters and C.W. Vrtacek. Yet this four minute bit of perfection is surrounded by an impressive supporting cast, including hypnotic "Your Bones Will Bleach White" and lachrymose "Stars are Going Out." The Shadow That Is Hidden may be frustratingly short, but it's also consistently great, and that helps make it one of the strongest psychedelic folk releases in recent memory.

yawning chasm's myspace

Michael Tau

[Vitals: 6 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2009]