High Above Ohio With The Ambient Americana Of High Aura'd

The American expanse isn't just a picture we share, but a moving history. We run through its forests, wade through its waters, and hike its mountains, often forgetting these environments move with us. No River Long Enough Doesn't Contain A Bend, the autumnally captivating record from High Aura'd, is intrinsically tied to a specific place — John Kolodij's new home in Ohio. In it, Kolodij sketches a future past with rugged Americana smoked with tea leaves, sheer drones wrapped in muslin cloth.

"'Black Grasshopper' is a morning by the river, noting the changes in life and landscape," Kolodij tells NPR of quietly fingerpicked track bedded by an ever-rising drone that never quite breaks. "I started fly fishing here in Ohio — here in Steelhead Alley as it's called — learning the riffles and eddies, and just listening to the earth wake up in the morning, but in the middle of the river."

Just as the track weathers time with rustic beauty, the experimental musician and installation artist Jeremy Bible has an incredible sense of space in his aerial footage shot above Ohio for the "Black Grasshopper" visuals. High over barren trees and partially frozen rivers, there's genuine awe in the plainspoken landscape that unfolds slowly like the changing of seasons. Bible is currently putting the finishing touches on Human Savagery, a visual album that also takes an eco-conscious approach to Ohio's natural habitats, which inspired Kolodij to collaborate.

"Jeremy Bible's work spoke to me immediately, and I had always planned on seeking a collaboration with him," he says. "His vivid, ultra-HD aerial cinematography showcases the sublime beauty here in Ohio, while shining a light on the chemical violence of EPA Superfund sites ravaged by industry and our abject stewardship. Hand in glove, on all levels."

No River Long Enough Doesn't Contain A Bend comes out Oct. 27 via Debacle Records.

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