Albums come, albums go, and it’s easy for most of them to get swept up in the pitiless march of pop-culture progress. Which is partly why Oblivions Songs—the new release by Divine Circles, the alias of North Carolinian singer-violinst Meghan Mulhearn—is so heart-stopping. The album’s five tracks aren’t the stuff of a quick skim; absorbing and subtle, they’re built around Mulhearn’s shadowy violin, entrancing loops, and stately, shimmering voice. From the elegant melancholy of “Leave” to the cosmic-Appalachian folk of “Hymn,” Oblivion Songs evokes an ancient-sounding soulfulness—one that provides a stark counterpoint to her far heavier work with her main band, U.S. Christmas (who are signed to Neurosis’ Neurot Recordings). Oblivions Songs is being streamed in full here. It’s a great place to stop, sink down, and get lost.
Oblivion Songs is available now via Paradigms Recordings.