Maria BC – “Amber” & “Watcher”

Maria BC – “Amber” & “Watcher”

Last year, the Oakland-based artist Maria BC released Hyaline, a debut album full of sparse, hypnotic songs. Since then, they’ve collaborated with Brooklyn experimental musician Rachika Nayar. Now, Maria BC has announced plans to follow Hyaline with a new album called Spike Field, and they’ve shared the LP’s first two tracks.

Spike Field gets its name from the giant granite thorns built around nuclear waste sites to communicate their danger to future generations. Maria BC recorded the new LP in the home of a family friend, using their classically trained voice and an out-of-tune baby Steinway. “Amber” and “Watcher,” the album’s first two songs, are spectral and meditative in ways that remind me of Grouper. “Watcher” features vocals from two of the artist’s childhood friends. In a press release, Maria says, “It’s about confronting other people’s pain and figuring out how best to show up for them.”

Below, check out “Amber,” “Watcher,” and the Spike Field tracklist.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Amber”
02 “Watcher”
03 “[ A backlit door ]”
04 “Haruspex”
05 “Return to sender”
06 “Tire iron”
07 “Daydrinker”
08 “Tied”
09 “Still”
10 “Lacuna”
11 “Mercury”
12 “Spike field”

Spike Field is out 10/20 on Sacred Bones.

Damien Maloney

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