Espers "Cruel Storm"

"Espers opened the show, filling stage center with three women playing two acoustic guitars and a cello, bordered by a bassist, drummer and electric guitarist/multi-instrumentalist who was a dead ringer for either Joey Ramone or David Fricke---my contact lenses were blurry. Personally, I enjoyed them, but they were not the best opening act, especially in an abnormally hot and humid venue as was the Vic on Saturday. As the floor filled, it got uncomfortable to the point where we had to make our way up to the balcony in order to breathe and remove a layer of clothing. Which was good, because that's the perfect vantage point to view the band. I decided that Espers was good---the contrast between muted commune-folk and Robert Fripp-style guitar workouts were indeed something to behold---but definitely best enjoyed from a comfortable perch." (3.13.2006)

Their third record, fittingly titled Espers II, came out a couple months after that show, and by that time I was ready to sit with it and give it the attention it needed. Espers, I've learned, also comes across with all due clarity on headphones in a living room with the lights turned low. For today's purposes, I'll focus on one song, the best song, called "Cruel Storm" (mp3). It's the type of bucolic British-influenced acoustic psychedelia that one would expect a band that looks like this. It's very pretty, but the real attraction here is the amazing vocal presence of Meg Baird. Echoing the unearthly, haunting vocal style of Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny, Baird weaves a lyric of quiet desperation and stillness, but with the clarity and hope of someone who sees and knows more than she should be physically able: "As light bleeds from the sky, I watch your heart die. Cry moonbeams with my time, pass, true loves, by once more, and it will be splendid."

Buy Espers II from Drag City here.