Maria Somerville returns shyly from the wilderness with “Stonefly,” which sounds less like a song than a whispered memory from another world. Now signed to 4AD, Maria’s upcoming album, “Luster,” is shaping up to be a well-earned journey in its own right when it arrives soon, and “Stonefly,” the third preview of the album, gives us a taste of its ethereal depths.
“Stonefly” has a weightless, almost spectral quality from its first moments. Maria lets the song unfold like fog rolling through an open space. There’s an undeniable sense of seeking in the music, like she’s grazing the fringes of forsaken aspirations, plucking shards of sound from the abyss and assembling them with fine detail.
Maria Somerville has always excelled in the in-between spaces, and her music often sits in that place that hovers between wakefulness and sleep, between longing and acceptance. “Stonefly” is not merely a track but a mood, an atmosphere, a gentle, incongruously serene rupture in time where previously undreamt audio seeps through. The production is big but purposeful, letting every note, every reverb-kissed hiss, jump in the dead air. It’s the sort of song that doesn’t call attention to itself but commands it, lulling listeners in and never releasing its hypnotic grip.
Adding to the song’s ethereal presence is a breathtaking visual companion helmed by Daniel Swan. The atmospheric music video further enhances the track’s dreamlike attributes, providing a hallucinatory visual reflecting how the song blurs your sense of reality.
Set to release on April 25th, “Luster” is an arresting invitation into the ever-evolving world that Maria Somerville has put together on “Stonefly.” It’s a quiet, intimate, inwardly focused breath before the album unfolds.
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