Jane Weaver – “The Electric Mountain”

Isn’t it time you left this world today? Jane Weaver fires up the rocketship on “The Electric Mountain,” laying sunny vocals and sci-fi tones atop a repetitive two-chord jam (sampled from space-rock legends Hawkwind) to hurtle the listener into the interstellar beyond. Over its six-minute length, the effect is unexpected and delightful, like a forgotten Bangles track recorded at Stonehenge.

The Liverpool singer-songwriter sets off on further sonic journeys on The Silver Globe. This new album sees Weaver, an admired if underrated figure in British freak folk, move confidently into a fuller group-based sound. She draws on aesthetic touchstones of past decades — from the driving motorik of krautrock and Stereolab, to the rainy-day 60s moods of Serge Gainsbourg and Broadcast, to her own spectral folk music — to paint enchanted visions of other worlds and post-human transformations. With a complete mythology developed across several disciplines (literature, costume, her own record label), Jane Weaver presents the full package, which makes The Silver Globe one of this year’s most exciting releases.

The Silver Globe is out now on Weaver’s imprint Bird.
In North America, pre-order the CD and LP at Forced Exposure.
Stream the whole album at The Quietus.