trembling by ther
"Philadelphia's ther is a project united around the observations and explorations of Heather Jones (they/she). Alongside Heather’s work as a freelance audio engineer, ther has often served as a capsule of unnerving anxieties fluttering around, set to music.
trembling, their debut full-length album, allows songs as old as ther itself to be revisited. “I had different plans for these songs before the pandemic,” they begin, noting that this new separation from collaborators made for a largely solo venture. “Because I didn’t have a band to work with, I had to flip these songs on their heads and revamp what I was going to do with them.”
stops on this wild ride include “resurrection sundae,” cataloging several ways to splinter and be put back together through a series of waking nightmares, and “$200,” a stunning and spare exhale that manipulates vocals to choral extremes in the face of police corruption. tenderness flows from these snapshots of unrest lest they explode, as the cacophony on “a glove” splits open a song built by tentative guitar threads.
Heather summarizes this record as midway between the world-weariness they’ve always felt, and the helplessness of watching the world be dismantled from a screen: “We’re reaching a breaking point: from an ecological perspective, from a socioeconomic perspective: we’re already in crisis. The pandemic has made it feel different because we’ve been forced to sit and do nothing but watch… that’s an apocalypse.”
If we're already at an end, trembling marks a new beginning: one where the planet and people interact with failing systems, recognize sinister natures hiding in plain sight, and one where we understand how to stare down evil forces with realism and tenacity. "
words by James Cassar
Tracklist
| 1. | exit | 1:03 |
| 2. | resurrection sundae | 3:22 |
| 3. | swimming (album version) | 2:50 |
| 4. | a mouse | 3:14 |
| 5. | $200 | 4:03 |
| 6. | lullaby88 | 0:55 |
| 7. | Maureen, afloat | 4:30 |
| 8. | a glove | 3:26 |
| 10. | 100 winters | 1:11 |
| 11. | i dream a highway | 2:15 |
Videos
Credits
all music and words written and performed by Heather Jones except:
supporting vocals by Veronica Magner
additional guitar on "a glove" played and recorded by Jon Cox
"i dream a highway" performed by Geneveev DeGroot, Jon Cox, Veronica Magner, and Amelia Swain
and:
“I Dream A Highway" written By Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, published by Say Uncle Music (BMI) and Cracklin’ Music (BMI)
recorded in various places & mixed by Heather at So Big Auditory in Philadelphia | sobig.studio
mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios
"bookstore" (bonus track) mastered by Heather at So Big Auditory with assistance from Jared Taylor
art by pauli mia | cargocollective.com/paulinka
