Red Planet by Arborea

"Arborea's brand of folk music is ethereal, bone-chilling, and beautiful all at once." - Performing Songwriter Magazine
"A gorgeous voice floating ever-so-light above an exquisite bed of instrumental texture; a mysterious and ethereal world of music that really draws me in...That's Arborea. And that's just the way I like my music." Gene Shay, WXPN/Folk Alley/The Village on XM Satellite Radio
"Shanti and Buck Curran get it right, with memorable songs that linger in the ether long after the last track ends." - NPR

Buck and Shanti Curran are bonded together in their journey through life by matrimony and a mutual dedication to their art, and the music they make together as Arborea is a stark and strikingly intimate reflection of their very personal mystery. From their verdant and far-flung home in the state of Maine, the avant-folk duo incant a haunting sound woven from a diversely textured loom, casting adrift songs that seemingly hover in the air, weightless and in flux, like a spectral hymn bathed in twilight. Arborea are sculptors of cinematic mini-masterpieces, with an expansive folk style that borrows from traditional American and British folk idioms, '60's pysch/folk and rock, "American Primitive" guitar, world indigenous music and minimalism, tethered all the while by Shanti Curran's wistful, ethereal vocals and lush lyrical imagery. Toting two full-length albums and a singles collection (House of Sticks, Borne!, 2009), Arborea have received near-universal acclaim with each outing, displaying a steady evolution of their folk-dappled style into shimmering sound pools which, collectively, convey the feel of minimalist film soundtracks. Arborea have come into their own with their fantastic 4th album Red Planet, absolutely the most finely distilled and focused display of their resonant sonic-acoustic vision to date.

Red Planet establishes Arborea's complex synthesis of acoustic folk and minimalist drone right out of the gate. From the opening motif of the acoustic guitar lament "The Fossil Sea", Red Planet conjures a panoramic aura, like a lost outtake from Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas soundtrack. As that echoes its way into "Black is the Colour", an eerie and utterly transcendent take on the traditional tune, it becomes mesmerizingly clear how the soft confluence of texture, sound and style meld to create the Arborea experience. Buck Curran's atmospheric guitar style echoes softly throughout, like elegies for forgotten souls or lands laid barren by time. The spotlight, however, is awash on Shanti Curran and her otherworldly and sonorous voice, sounding like a ghostly marriage of Tim Buckley and Hope Sandoval as it elevates high above the fragile acoustic terrain. Helena Espvall of Philadelphia acid-folk explorers Espers made a special trek up to Maine in the summer of 2010 to collaborate with Arborea, and her inimitable, instinctive harmonizing cello style provides key textural contributions to "Spain" and "Arms and Horses". Throughout Red Planet, a minimalist fusion of acoustic music and folk-rock is maintained from start to finish, creating a resonant landscape illuminating a world full of softly foreboding magic and endless possibilities. Red Planet documents an astounding achievement by Arborea - two artists who have effortlessly melded their life experiences into one pure and distinct vision.

Strange Attractors Audio House is a micro-indie record label from Portland, OR. Splintered from its' long-running radio program antecedent "Strange Attractors" on KAOS Olympia 89.3 FM Community Radio, Strange Attractors Audio House is inspired by and strives to document challenging yet sincere "out" music loosely in the realms of steel string guitar, psych rock/folk, fire jazz, post-rock and more.

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