Tiny Ruins - Ceremony (2023) [Hi-Res]

A rare blend of eloquent lyrical craft and explorative musicianship, the songs of Tiny Ruins are etched into the memories of crowds and critics worldwide. Traversing influences that cross genre and era, the artistry of Hollie Fullbrook and her band spans delicate folk, lustrous dream pop and ebullient psychedelia. Building on the sparse arrangements and a novelist's eye for detailcultivated over the past several years, the group's greatly anticipated fourth album is out on Marathon Artists and Courtney Barnett's label Milk! Records. Where the third album Olympic Girls was suffused with loss and existential emptiness, with fourth album Ceremony, Hollie Fullbrook's evolution as Tiny Ruins has reached an apex of power, as she's become a deft bandleader of incredible musicians. Ceremony has many moods, ranging from intense minimalist 'Diving & Soaring' that evokes a classic folk vibe through to the heavier Neil-Young & Crazy Horse inspired 'Dorothy Bay', boppy danceable 'In Light of Everything', and the hooky, uplifting 'Dogs Dreaming'. Noodly 70s electric guitars, eclectic percussion and prominent bass make it their most listenable and accessible album to date. The songs are all of a theme - exploring the coastal shores of the Manukau Harbour and working through a psychological 'shellscape', while tending toward a joyful / hopeful take on the passing of time. Ceremony is Hollie's highest achievement, an album about confronting confusion, loss, dislocation and ultimately, realising the beauty of life's unpredictable paths.