Woodwose – S/T 
Another curio that sits between reissue and the constant rediscovery of ‘00s psych-folk over the past few years, Woodwose is a treasure that’s been lying in wait for 20 years. Recorded in 2006 at Hexham Head Philadelphia by Greg Weeks, Woodwose’s sole album has been lost alongside gems like Grass and Baba Yaga. With the revived Language of Stone behind them, the duo of Jessica Weeks (The Valerie Project, Magus) and Gillian Chadwick (Ex-Reverie) offer up an album that’s as steeped in psych-folk as it is a more sinister strain of prog. A precursor of sorts to Jessica’s work with Magus this year, the record pairs haunting, entwined vocals with the dirge-dark touches of guitar and Fender Rhodes. Squalls of fuzz drench the guitars while the candle-flame flicker of organ underpins the duo’s twilight incantations. Even within the swell of psych-folk at the time, the record is an outlier, a masterclass in alchemy that seeps out of the speakers in moonstone shades.
The record is at home among the small press jewels of psych folk – laced with shadows of Sarofeen and Smoke, Kathy Smith, and Heaven & Earth, yet there’s something darker at its core, a prog that’s permeated with unease. They creep into view on “At The Swimming Hole,” coven-close vocals leading the listener down darkened paths. They carve wicker wonders out of “Younger Animals,” a fuzz-laced highlight that’s already found its way into rotation over the past few weeks. There are lighter moments too, if that’s the right word. “Amethyst” kicks the tempo and parts the clouds, still sorting through curses, but having a romp while they’re at it. Like Baba Yaga, this is the kind of release that almost seems spared getting lost in the fray of folk that was coming out at the time. Their closest contemporaries in the scene might be someone like White Magic, another band that deserved better due than they were given, ultimately getting lost among higher profile names. Time has given Woodwose’s debut some space and air to distinguish itself; a blood-thick bloom that’s only brightened with time.
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