King Woman “Celestial Blues” [Relapse Records]

atavist   2/2/2022   A Library, CD

KFJC most recently encountered the work of Kristina Esfandiari on the brooding, electric Nghtcrwlr release “Let the Children Scream”. Here she returns to the guitar-driven King Woman, a project at times propulsive and furious, other times restrained and simmering, the sound of the loss that sinks and gathers in the pit of your stomach. The charisma in Esfandiari’s voice can lure you into the abyss and echo in your mind long after you remove the headphones. I suggest this could serve as the coronation Thurston Hunger hoped for when we acquired the Degrida/Sick Bed single in 2013. 

FCCs: Entwined (tr 6) and Ruse (tr 8)