After a semi-retirement for a couple of years,
Lycia -- down to the core duo of Mike Van Portfleet and
Tara Vanflower -- returned with another dark dream of an album,
Tripping Back Into the Broken Days. With a new emphasis on acoustic guitar -- though not solely, with the layers of echo and buried drones still providing the keys to the overall arrangements -- the duo again shows that there is always a place for its deliberate, carefully textured take on goth. As is the case with most
Lycia releases, the songs all tend toward extended lengths, generally allowing motifs and moods to be established and then carefully explored, with the two members more or less trading off lead turns throughout. Van Portfleet's signature singing style, suffused passion wrapped up in a sighing whisper, remains as it ever was, while
Vanflower's singing has in ways never sounded more entrancing. There's a touch more directness in both their vocals this time out, in keeping with the lower-key focus of the album as a whole, but anyone wanting
Lycia unplugged will yet have to wait a bit. That said, some songs come very beautifully close -- "Asleep in the River," one of the
Vanflower-sung numbers, has a simply lovely introduction on guitar alone that seems to effortlessly slide into the main song. Her semi-spoken word turn at points almost suggests
Jarboe in ways, not a bad thing in the slightest. "Vacant Winter Day" in turn is probably the pinnacle of the Van Portfleet-sung numbers, a slow, measured rising then falling guitar lead keeping pace as his almost-not-there vocals and the softest of tones call the titular image to mind just so. Credit as well to Van Portfleet's cover photos, which capture a sense of the hot, blasted Arizona where the album was recorded, at once abandoned and starkly beautiful. ~ Ned Raggett