Rural psychedelia abounds on Caethua‘s new LP Red Moon, out this week on Bathetic Records. The work of the mysterious songstress Clare Hubbard, this is Caethua’s first LP release since 2011’s The Summer Is Over Before It’s Begun. While her work is definitely folk influenced, “Ode To Joey” is an excellent example of why Hubbard’s music is so difficult to classify. On the track, she weaves a necromantic spell of transportive sonics from the other-worldly drone of organ and looped chimes, before intoning spoken, entranced vocals that have been doubled up into a dream-like duet. Meanwhile, from deep in the mix, a woman’s gorgeous singing voice suggest celestial regions, before “Ode To Joey” takes a more sinister turn, as Hubbard delivers evocative, mytho-poetic lines like, “You look a lot like you did/A mirage in Delphic gases/Jewel of the sea…”
