‘Hauntology‘ is the self funded, bedroom recorded debut from The Haunted Isles the brainchild of former Bridport Dagger front man Jason Idnani-Powdrill. Dragging his chains across the floorboards like the ghoul in the attic these restrained, haunted narratives weave pleasingly through ethereal lo-fi-noir shuffles that conjures up the nightmarish spirit of early Birthday Party, the Spanish flecks of Calexico and the aching instrumentals and insidious melodrama of the Tindersticks early albums.
A down-tempo-spectral re-imagining of previous Dagger single ‘Dangling Man’ is an obvious standout padding through the shadowy backstreets at might night while Powdrill’s baritone expounds Nick Cave-like on this Spaghetti Western style murder ballad. Better still is the lo-fi flemengo clang and scrape of ‘Heart on a String‘ Powdrill’s longing lines ‘you are such a beautiful thing/my heart on a string’ echoes the torment of love, while its b-movie soundtrack-alike backdrop is darkly black.’Ropes’ meanwhile crafts an enveloping poetic motif through six string twang, each waltzing couplets dulcet note is rife with startling honesty ‘hey you look a state again…’ punctuating the verses melodies with creeping homespun tension it’s the sound of early Tindersticks being informed by the songwriting gift of Leonard Cohen.
The final track ‘Too Many Stars’ perhaps ushers a glimpse of The Haunted Isles future, it’s skeletal slide guitars are laced with background of rickety percussion and harmonica tremble, and Powdrill’s most expansive Haunted Isles vocal to date: shifting intensely from intricate detail to impassioned howl at the moon, it’s superlative. Jason-Powdrill’s first release under The Haunted Isles moniker hints at even more intricate aural adventures to come, in the meantime saviour these cuts for they are the homemade product of a fine songwriter just hitting his stride…Don’t have nightmares now….
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Haunted-Isles/334843056599778?id=334843056599778
