Article by: Leanne Ridgeway
Singer-songwriter ESTHER ANN GOVE engraves rustic songs across the steel-string guitar using nothing more than the resonance of warm vocal tones. Long lost country folk united with the brooding influence of doom creates a mournful, earthy sound.
A product of the Pacific Northwest music family and based in Northern California, ESTHER ANN GOVE’s inspiration as a songwriter grew from the legendary understated intensity of Gillian Welch, Jason Molina, and Townes Van Zandt. She has spent ample time honing her inspiration into creative reality by gigging around the San Francisco Bay Area open mic circuit.
She recently brought her mahogany tones to the recorded stage of Mountaineer‘s ‘Bloodletting‘ LP as a guest vocalist on the title track. Now it’s time to share her own tales from the studio. ‘Oh Creation‘ is the debut album from Ms. Gove. Recently released earlier this month, it reveals her hauntingly emotional stories of love, death, and hope from a faraway world… strange yet familiar.
The listener journeys through wildly dark and evocative landscapes of the post-folk soul. The single “Hello” from the album debuted in video form and is streaming below. Some insight from Esther Ann Gove herself into its creation:
“The concept of the video was inspired by the meaning of the song, which is about trying to find a part of yourself you have lost and can never get back to. The video was filmed in both Santa Cruz, California and Talent, Oregon, and was an artistic collaboration between myself, Isaac Rigler of DAXMA/Mountaineer and Miguel Meza of Mountaineer.”
Tracklist:
01. Oh Creation
02. Ghosts
03. Buried
04. The Gilded Table
05. Fate
06. Dead God
07. Home
With her songs for ‘Oh Creation‘ written and arranged from 2018 to 2019, the album tracks were recorded in late winter 2019 by Patrick Hills at Earthtone Studios. The mixing by Noah Foley-Beining and mastering by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege took place in the Spring and Summer of 2020.
Guest players on the album include Isaac Rigler (Daxma, Mountaineer) on Electric Guitar, Clayton Bartholomew (Mountaineer) on Acoustic Guitar, and Jessica T. (Daxma) on Violin. With artwork by Miguel Mesa (Mountaineer), the seven songs of ESTHER ANN GOVE‘s ‘Oh Creation‘ intertwine to etch an acoustical path back to forgotten lands of the dark country that waits to recapture our forlorn bones.
‘Oh Creation‘ is currently available via Bandcamp for digital download or streaming via most major outlets.
ESTHER ANN GOVE:
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