Heron & Crane - Migrations

Heron & Crane, the electronic psych-folk duo made up of Dave Gibson and Travis Kokas release their fourth full length record, Migrations. 

Migrations is the first all instrumental Heron & Crane record, a decision that, as Kokas points out, came from a place of wanting to put forth the best material and not force vocal tracks onto the album out of habit. The cover image of clouds hovering over the central New Mexico desert visually reflects the natural world that the songs attempt to capture sonically, while paying homage to the Windham Hill and ECM aesthetic that also greatly influenced the music on Migrations. 

Migrations expands the sonic palette of the group, perhaps most notably on opener Kudzu Moon which combines Celtic harp with 80s new age synth lines. Biscuit Basin finds the band in cosmic country territory, melding lap steel with Moog sequences. The album delves into tropicalia influences with the tracks Modern Calling and Tropical Lustron. 

As usual, the duo enters into the realm of hauntological folk on songs such as Haven of Exiles and Heart Shake, while vibraphone lends jazzy textures to tracks like Soft Cycle and Slightly California.