Duality is no less mysterious or captivating than Gerrard's solo debut, but it manages to conjure a more intimate, immediate atmosphere.
Though the Hope Blister is technically a continuation of 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell's project This Mortal Coil, its small, steady lineup of musicians and focus on covers sets it apart from his previous project.
Collecting Thievery Corporation's first four singles plus several new tracks, the album uses the sampler as its main weapon, constructing songs around pilferings from '60s reggae and pop. The effect approaches easy listening kitsch-core but retains an unsettling edge.
HNIA's fifth 4AD release is their most complex and accomplished so far, pulling together the dreamy experimentalism of their early work with the poppy, soulful tendencies of recent releases and adding a few new twists.
Even more countrified than the preceding Ask Me Tomorrow, the album possesses a dusty melancholia that's truly affecting - no longer hiding behind an impenetrable wall of noise, Halstead blossoms instead into a superb writer.
When Kristin was young, her father would sing Appalachian songs of death and damnation to her. For this album she recreates those songs, with help on vocals and piano from one of her sons! Originally the first of 4AD's mail order only series, it is now widely available.
