An émigré from Tel Aviv, Malka Spigel’s musical history can be traced right back to Amsterdam in the early ‘80s and her work with Minimal Compact, a lesser known post-punk trio who fused their native Middle Eastern heritage with a more conventional European sound. As she returns here with her new EP Gliding, those distant connections can still be heard throughout its opening track ‘Strumgliging’ as it drifts serenely by, shifting shape ever so gradually in a swell of guitars and Spigel’s burbling bassline; her voice floats just above the melody, repeating the song’s title like some hypnotic mantra.
‘Strumgliging’, ‘Hacal Zarom Bayachad’ – where Spigel sings in Hebrew – and the EP’s concluding track, ‘Dreamwalking’ all share the same central characteristic. Taken from her first three solo albums – Rosh Ballata, Hide and My Pet Fish and all recorded in the mid-‘90s – each song is reworked and remodelled here into a transcendental sculpture of its original form, a stunning creation of synthetic sound that re-imagines a point at which Neu! and Brian Eno meet. Taken from the Swim Team # 1 compilation, the dreamy ‘Tall Grey Buildings’ – a beautifully polished, symphonic reinvention of the spirit of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless – makes up the EP’s imperious quartet of songs.
Joining Spigel on Gliding is drummer Ronald Lippok, Gil Luz on keyboards, and guitarists Uri Frost and Colin Newman, the latter-named her husband of nearly 30 years and founding member of that hugely influential, and most bold of British post-punk bands Wire. His influence can be most clearly heard on ‘Dreamwalking’, an outpouring of atmospheric, celestial noise where lurching guitars, bass and voice conjoin to quite magnificent effect.
Just as its title suggests, Gliding takes the listener on a smooth, almost imperceptible journey at altitude in what is the rarefied atmosphere of its four tracks; an apparently effortless movement of music that draws you slowly into its consciousness by stealth and by stealth alone.
Gliding was released on 19th May 2014 via swim~
