Orphnē
MÚSICA MÁXICA
Elegantly wrought excursions into Greek myth and womanhood
The third album from talented vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Amaya López-Carromero explores Greek mythology via modern thoughts on what it means to be a woman. The album is carefully hewn, richly textured and demonstrates a scholarly depth of knowledge, drawing from jazz and classical traditions with its graceful strings, quicksilver piano motifs and some tasteful guitar courtesy of Barshasketh’s Guillaume Martin. While not as heavy - sonically or emotionally - as other modern genre-splicers operating in the same rough space (Anna von Hausswolff, say) there’s a definite sense of darkness running through Orphnē, and López-Carromero’s capacity for seamlessly transitioning from light and jaunty to truly glowering never fails to impress. The range, deftness and outré worldview often bring to mind Tori Amos - albeit a strange, gothier, parallel universe incarnation who’s a creative sparring partner for Edgar Allan Poe rather than Neil Gaiman.