Shrines, the moniker of Brooklyn-based singer and musician Carrie Erving, self-released a new EP, Seasons, on October 18. The release was celebrated with a show at Brooklyn’s C’mon Everybody several days later on October 23.
Labelled loosely perhaps as art pop, any effort at finding a straightforward pidgeon-hole for this work are likely to be confounded. In “Infinite Spring” (the EP’s opener) for example, what begins as brooding and operatic quickly finds itself morphed into rocky and club-adjacent.
Seasons, produced by Rosana Cabán (Psychic Twin, Cosas Cosas), spans four songs exploring the fragility of the individual seasons. At turns reflective, poppy and celebratory, Seasons documents the collective cognitive dissonance of the fluctuations between celebration and trepidation that arise while living in a time of rapidly escalating climate change. This may feel particularly relevant to those enjoying the 80 degree late-October heatwave.
The highlight of this work is Erving’s voice. One part classical vibrato, one part pop incantation, Shrines’ singing is given room to breathe with very little manipulation. A hint of reverb is applied just at the right moments to draw out some of the music’s spookiness.
In Seasons, Shrines’ lyrics suggest that allowing ourselves to savor the present moment may be one of the keys to grappling with the larger challenges of our time. Shrines’ new single and video, “Witch Season,” is her homage to spooky season. With lyrics drawing from themes in Irish traditional folklore, “Witch Season” explores getting lost in the woods, immersing oneself in the unknown, and reconnecting with one’s own wild nature, as the music crescendos into a mysterious, Stevie Nicks coded fever-dream.
Drawing comparisons to Björk and Sinead O’Connor, Shrines skillfully weaves influences of pop, electronic music, indie rock, and Irish sean-nós (traditional ‘old style’ Irish singing) into her music, delivering shimmering art-pop that The New York Times described as ‘spellbinding.’
Find Seasons on Bandcamp.
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