Sarah Davachi has done the impossible: she’s recorded something even more subtle and sublime than 2018 LP Gave In Rest. Latest offering Pale Bloom sees the Canadian multi-instrumentalist hit dizzying new heights. A haunting and immediately timeless work of minimalism, the album sees Davachi returning to the instrument of her youth – the piano – with stunning results.

A game of two halves, Pale Bloom kicks off with Davachi treating us to a three-part suite which combines ambient with a startling use of voice, a rich baritone which tumbles out of the stereo. The second side of the LP is given over to the 21-minute piece If It Pleased Me to Appear to You Wrapped in This Drapery, a deep evocation of the sort of loneliness that’s best soundtracked by her spiritual sound.

While it’s every bit as infused with the churchy drones of her previous work, Pale Bloom sees Davachi crystallise her style. Here, she has made another incredible late-night listening experience for those of us with a penchant for music that refuses to follow trend. Long may she reign.

Josh Baines