Michigan wonder Shelley Salant (Swimsuit, Tyvek, Saturday Looks Good To Me) began playing shows under various names a few years ago, bringing her brittle, mantra-like guitar meditations into form over the course of several tapes on her Gingko label. In a Cloud (2013) is the first LP collection of her songs, streamlining things a bit from the lengthy zones of her tapes, but maintaining her expansive and thoughtful sounds.
A focus on themes of nature, struggle, and compassion are expressed loudly through the simple means of a single guitar with minimal processing. There are some soft dub touches in the production, and the occasional wash of drums or staticy overdub, but mostly we hear the the cavernous refractions of Shelley's instinctive jamming, spreading out like ripples on the lake and unfolding new possibilities as they go. Do punks go camping? Is there punk wildlife? Can we communicate with the animals and be absolutely certain we understand each other? Absolutely.
