Strongest release in a long time from members of the Montreal collective. Esmerine is the duo of Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon, best known for their work with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Set Fire to Flames, and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band but here we have a much more intimate album and one that reminds us of these artists level of musicianship. Beautiful close-miked cello playing that holds every sonic detail of bow-on-string right up to your face. The second track in particular is an incredible, almost drone like, deep bowed work-out. Subtle melodic percussion, marimba, glockenspiel and drums accompany throughout and even some delicate piano comes in on a later track but for the most part this is a very stripped down album, one that is all the more impressive considering the amount of other musicians present: Mike Moya (Hrsta), Harris Newman (solo, Hrsta), Jessie Carrot (Jackie-O Motherfucker) and Howard Bilerman. Comes in gorgeous packaging too. Recommended.

CD version also available