Angel Bat Dawid - The Oracle (2019) [review only + Bandcamp link]

Received a tape in the post on Monday last, following reviews in Pitchfork and The Guardian that intrigued me enough to snap up one of the limited run of cassettes on which this Chicagoan clarinettist/vocalist/pianist has released her debut album.  The Oracle can also be bought digitally at the Bandcamp link below, and at time of writing there's a handful of second-run tapes left.

Recorded completely on her phone, Angel Bat Dawid's album actually sounds very professionally made.  Overdubbing layers of clarinet, voice and electric piano (except for one epic live clarinet-drums jam), The Oracle's eight tracks cover free jazz, gospel and densely-layered avant-garde classical stylings. 

It's sparse on lyrics, mostly just exclamations of spritual ecstasy; one track borrows the opening couplet from a poem by Margaret Burroughs and layers it over and over.  My personal favourite is We Are Starzz, in which a simple descending sequence blossoms into gorgeous clarinet solos and aching vocal lines.  I honestly can't recommend this enough - do investigate if this sounds at all like your kind of thing.

link