Bird songs open Luster, the sophomore album from Maria Somerville and her debut full-length with venerable indie label 4AD. Their chirps, taken from a field recording at the singer/producer’s home in Connemara, Ireland, slowly give away to a kind of ethereal ambience with Róisín Berkeley on harp and Henry Earnest on guitar.
Somerville, who also hosts “The Early Bird Show” on NTS, self-released her debut album, All My People. In between the two albums, she moved from Dublin back to her hometown. “It’s grounding and expansive there, and gives me spaciousness, which maybe subconsciously shapes how I make music,” she says of the move in an email interview.
She also participated in two artist residencies while making the album. “The residencies gave me focused time and space away from everyday life — a chance to listen more deeply and experiment,” says Somerville. “Being in new environments and working alongside other artists helped stretch the boundaries of where the songs could go.”
The end result is an album that injects a dose of environmental music into a dreampop vibe that recalls 4AD’s 1980s and 1990s heyday. I think of Pale Saints on “Projections” and flashback to Cocteau Twins’ seminal album Garlands with “Garden.” The latter is a particularly striking song with its stormy atmosphere. “I started with the vocal idea and used phaser and other effects to shape the textures,” says Somerville of “Garden.” “I worked on it with Diego Herrera (Suzanne Kraft), and it came together so naturally. Love his bassline. The whole process was nice and intuitive.”
There’s a nice sense of flow throughout Luster that seems to mimic the course of a year. The pace picks up on “Spring,” which is the mid-point of the album, and there’s a lightness that carries through on the songs “Stonefly,” “Flutter” (which is more of an interlude) and “Trip.”
A melancholy sets in again with the very Mazzy Star sound of “Up,” which leads to “October Moon,” the album’s spectral closer. “The tracklisting was intentional for sure,” says Somerville. “‘October Moon’ being the closing song and a moment for reflection.”
Maria Somerville plays Zebulon in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 24, with her current three-piece live setup. At the time of posting this, tickets were still available on Dice. Luster, which was released in late April on 4AD, is available on multiple platforms.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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