Mimicking sinuous roots extending deep into the earth, We Saw Blue spreads and extends beyond worldly bounds. As four multilingual voices weave like twine, polyrhythmic percussion rumbles tectonic faults as nylon strings echo in a crystal-clear resonance. Every layered detail of sound holds its own on Ley Line’s sophomore album.
Inspired by world travels, twin sisters Madeleine and Lydia Froncek and Austinites Kate Robberson and Emilie Basez follow 2016’s Field Notes with an expansive exposé that traverses borders with a bared vulnerability. On opener “To the Sky,” baritones suspend midair as French teases a strummed bossa nova and warm lingering trumpets. Pooling a triptych, “Respiração” syncopates in up-note reggae, “Oxum” wafts West African rolling percussion, and “Ciranda” struts Spanish flourishes.
We Saw Blue grounds stilling harmonies into a corporeal reveal of a tactile intimacy. Its title track reverberates in an empty cathedral as the Austin quartet approximates a full choir, each register entwining in gentle threads. Closer “Sounding Sun” casts a resounding prayer as Ley Line’s a capella supplication suspends in spiritual inevitability.
This article appears in December 11 • 2020.