Mount Eerie - Lost Wisom pt. 2
07 10

Mount Eerie Lost Wisdom pt. 2 P.W. Elverum & Sun

08.11.19

It’s easy to become tangled in the sadness that has engulfed the music Phil Elverum releases as Mount Eerie. But there is more to his latest project than sorrow. Released as a sequel to 2008’s Lost Wisdom, Lost Wisdom pt. 2 sees Elverum once again in collaboration with Julie Doiron, the Canadian solo artist and co-vocalist of 90s indie outfit Eric’s Trip.

This is an album about the disorientation of a blank page, a new beginning. The follow-up to Now Only, Elverum’s 2018 critically-acclaimed record, Lost Wisdom pt. 2 feels like a natural extension of its predecessor, buoyed by the inevitability of change. This is echoed in opener Belief, as an unexpected drone cuts through the middle of the track, disturbing the soft delivery of the two vocalists.

Throughout, Elverum employs the stream of consciousness lyrical style he’s known for, dipping into motifs of past releases. He mentions standing at the edge of a bottomless pit (like his 2004 song of the same name) and he sings of crows circling him (a reference to his grief-stricken masterpiece, A Crow Looked at Me). Sonically, Wisdom stays true to Elverum’s homemade production style and dedication to analogue recording, with warm, familiar melodies and sparse drums at the helm. Lost Wisdom pt. 2, in its refreshing candour, exhibits two artists at the peak of their songwriting.