Over two years ago, I was listening to Harvestman, another persona of Steve von Till. The phone rang and my sister, who I don’t see much, told me my father had been given six months to live, he had gotten pancreatic cancer. I put down the phone and my whole perception was altered, this was a death sentence for him. The Harvestman album was like a soundtrack to intensified somber thoughts. It was a huge epiphany of rock bottom, a pure emptiness. He lasted only four months. The music I connected to deeply was Harvestman/Steve Von Till, Zoë Keating, Clint Mansell and the Nick Cave and Warren Ellis score for ‘The Road.’ All helped me cope with this mental state.
Music can evoke multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through our minds. It can reflect and even shape our environment rather than be just another product for us to accumulate until the next one.
Photo: Niela Von Till
At times, we need a music for inward examination, disentangling and analyzing the banal glycerine element of our world. More complex intensity, more of an unorthodox sound that helps your primal emotions. Not necessary the lyrics, but the sound of the mood. More like an audible sense of consciousness. I’m not saying you have to go through a traumatic experience to appreciate decent music. What I’m saying is music with depth is so much more; it’s thought, reflection etc.
Steve Von Till, with some assistance from members of Amber Asylum, captures a conscious awareness of being on the album ‘As The Crow Flies.’ The lyrics, theoretically, are bleak, psychological, animist and consist of a deeper thinking of ‘actual’ life. “Why can’t I rest a while? This unease in my chest. A nauseous burning keeps me awake to swim inside. To consume myself with fears of what I’ve given” (Midheaven). Other lyrics have a dark but Yeats-like holistic beauty about them.
Life, of course, can be like a fucking miserable cancer at times. Sanctimonious control, congested skylines and all the other modern day bullshit. A dumbing down of self and the devil take the highmost. So let’s just stop for one minute, take a breath and take in something more. Somewhere in the deep recess of our imagination, we have some sort of shamanic knowing. I don’t mean that in some sort of religious way. But an understanding of earth, a primeval life and the seasons. Simplified and pared back, “I want to believe in the sun, Who in all its splendor is dying, I desire the solidness of earth” (Warning Of A Storm). Great themes of barren earth, primordial instinct and grief accompanied by sullen acoustic guitar, cello and violin. A classic album that will last the test of time.
‘As The Crow Flies,’ Steve’s first album, is now being reissued by Neurot Recordings in Europe on May 13th and May 14th in North America, precisely thirteen years since its initial release. It will also have updated artwork and packaging.
Ryan Land
May 16, 2013 at 11:32 am
Much Respect to Steve for this album. A true poet and visionary.
Eric Massicotte
May 8, 2013 at 5:50 pm
I remember when I bought the original release. it was a breath of fresh air for me and got me interested a lot more in Neurosis at the same time. Awesome solo artist!