Fort Worth Weekly
Carried on by the Storms at Sea
A transatlantic collaboration releases its debut 7-inch as an expressive tribute to the late local musician/artist Nevada Hill.
By PATRICK HIGGINS
Though Hill would not see the final product, a posthumous performance sweetens the results.
Courtesy of Chris Plavidal
A dirge is a funeral song. A low-thrum lament to express grief or as an accompaniment for the departed on their journey to whatever it is that exists after death. A dirge can be somber, beautiful, and exalting. On their debut, Texas/U.K. psyche-noise duo Storms at Sea captures this mournful essence. Their new self-titled 7-inch reworks the atmosphere of a slow-burning New Orleans funeral march into experimental loop-based expressionism. Layers of distorted guitar drones swirl around bright horns, aggressive strings, and thundering toms, creating a sonic squall of angelic melancholy. The result is fitting of what it’s meant to be: a tribute to a lost friend. The two songs are an ode to Dallas musician and artist Nevada Hill, who died five years ago after a two-year battle with cancer.