“Veil,” the opening track on Penelope Three, runs for less than two minutes, but immediately sets the tone for the album. Seagulls caw overhead, ocean waves roar in the distance and a lonely drone unfurls on what sounds like an old, creaky accordion. Penelope Trappes’ voice, icy and spectral, resonates like a siren calling you onto the rocks. You could be listening to a folk album, one that’s haunted by ancestral pain and loss, and rendered three-dimensional by a canny attention to sound design. Then, on “Nervous,” there’s a sharp left turn into more claustrophobic internal spaces, as the music throbs and creaks with portent. The influence of an artist such as Burial moves to the forefront, and the atmosphere becomes deeply immersive.
Penelope Three spends its 35-minute runtime exploring this fertile intersection between haunting folk and anxious electronica, creating a deep, resonant space that’s beautiful, eerie and unsettling. “Forest” brings together a two-note guitar line reminiscent of early Cure, a panic-inducing kick and snare, and a growling bowed bass. “Red Yellow” has a rhythm track punctuated by what sounds like someone gasping for air, while Trappes’ voice takes on the purring timbre of Portishead’s Beth Gibbons. “Lucky Eleven” introduces some dystopian synths to the mix, and stark instrumental “Northern Lights” employs scratchy cello, resounding bass hits, and distant, wordless vocal harmonies.
However, Penelope Three is not all doom and gloom. With just piano and voice, “Fur and Feather” is utterly disarming in its simplicity and beauty. The literally titled “Halfway Point” offers a shaft of light to guide the listener through the shadows. And while the piano on “Blood Moon” sounds like it’s been resurrected from an ancient chewed tape, the relatively up-tempo rhythm track lifts the song out of the doldrums with its hopeful sway, reminiscent of Cocteau Twins. Though “Awkward Matriarch” closes the album with the howling of the same icy wind that blew at the start, there’s a feeling of standing steadfast against the darkness.
