Sarah Davachi – Cantus, Descant (2LP)

Album Info Hide Show Artist: Sarah Davachi Album: Cantus, Descant Released: USA, 2020 Tracklist: A1 Stations II 5:47 A2 The Pelican 5:50 A3 Ruminant 3:01 A4 Still Lives 4:27 B1 Stations V 3:58 B2 Midlands 9:45 B3 Play The Ghost 5:01 B4 Stations IV 3:18 C1 Passing Bell 1:25 C2 Hanging Gardens 5:48 C3 Stations I 2:35 C4 Gold Upon White 6:45 C5 Oldgrowth 3:49 D1 Stations III 3:48 D2 Canyon Walls 4:38 D3 Badlands 4:46 D4 Diaphonia Basilica 5:47 Info About Buying Vinyl From Our Record Store We are a small independent record store located at 211 High St, Preston in Melbourne, Australia (North of Northcote, between Thornbury & Reservoir) We buy and sell new and used vinyl records – if you have a collection you’d like to sell please click here . We ship Australia wide for a flat rate of $10 for standard shipping or $15 for express post. Free Shipping for orders $150 and over. You can also pick up your order in store, just select Local Pickup at the checkout. We also ship internationally – prices vary depending on weight and location. We ship vinyls in thick, rigid carboard mailers with a crushable zone on either side, and for extra safety we bubble wrap the records. In stock vinyl is usally shipped next business day, please check the availability field at the top of the product page to see whether the record is currently in stock or if it is available from the supplier as well as estimated shipping times. If you order an in stock item together with a pre order or back order (listed as available from supplier rather than in stock) then the order will be shipped together when all items arrive. If you would like the in stock items shipped first please place two separate orders or contact us to arrange shipping items separately. We are strongly committed to customer satisfaction. If you experience any problems with your order contact us so we can rectify the situation. If the record arrives damaged or doesn’t arrive we will cover the cost of replacing or returning the record. If you change your mind you have 30 days to return your record but you must cover the cost of returning it to the store. You can contact our Melbourne record shop at (03) 9939 3807 or at [email protected] Happy Listening! Description Hide Show Theres a reason people keep talking about Cantus, Descant in quiet, almost reverent tones. Sarah Davachis 2020 double album landed like a soft bell in a still room, and it hasnt really stopped ringing. Released on her own Late Music imprint, it feels like a statement of intent, right down to the title that points to chant and harmony, the old and the new laying side by side. Davachi is a Canadian composer known for patience and restraint, and here she folds those qualities into a record thats both intimate and architectural. Its music that moves slowly enough to let you notice the grain of each sound, the way light falls across a room. The core of Cantus, Descant is the pipe organ, though that undersells how varied these organs are. Davachi recorded across different instruments and spaces, and you can hear the rooms as much as the pipes. A churchs long stone decay, a halls softer air, a small instrument breathing close to the microphone. Her voice appears too, not as a pop lead but as another instrument, often stacked and shadowing the organs sustained tones. The blend nods to early music and plainchant, but its not a historical exercise. Its very much her language, tuned to that fine line where harmonic shifts feel less like chord changes and more like changes in weather. On vinyl, this stuff blooms. The low-frequency murmur of long tones, the subtle beating between close intervals, the tiny fluctuations in air and key action become an environment rather than just notes. A good pressing of Cantus, Descant vinyl opens up the edges of the sound and lets the room around the organ breathe. Thats where the album gets you. Not in a big hook, but in the way a held chord gathers overtones until it glows. Its the rare ambient-adjacent record that has real physical presence. If youve been hunting for Sarah Davachi vinyl, this is the one that turns a living room into a listening chapel. Critics heard it too. The album drew strong notices from outlets like Pitchfork and The Quietus, who picked up on the clarity of the writing and the depth of the performances. It came out during a year when many of us were living more quietly than usual, and it met that moment without feeling opportunistic. You can put it on late at night and it works like a small ritual. But it also rewards close, analytical listening. Theres careful use of temperament and voicing at play, the kind of decisions that come from someone who has spent years with both historical instruments and analogue synthesisers. You sense the composers ear for detail in the way a line sits just above or below another, creating those shimmering, wavering halos. I keep thinking about how human it feels. Minimal music can drift into the academic if the balance is off. Davachi keeps the pulse of breath in her tones, so even at its slowest the music feels lived-in rather than clean-room sterile. The voice is key to that. When it enters, it doesnt break the spell, it deepens it. The albums pacing is spot on too. Across the four sides, the pieces rise and fall in a way that never feels programmatic. You can drop the needle anywhere and settle in, or ride the full arc and feel the record gather its own logic. If youre crate-digging or browsing a Melbourne record store and you see the spine peeking out, dont hesitate. Its the kind of album that sneaks into your routine and becomes a reference point. For collectors building out a shelf of Sarah Davachi albums on vinyl, it sits comfortably alongside later Late Music releases and shows where that current began. And if youre looking to buy Sarah Davachi records online from a shop that actually cares how this sort of music should sound on a turntable, keep an eye on the better-curated corners of vinyl records Australia. The stock doesnt tend to linger. Cantus, Descant isnt about volume or novelty. Its about patience, tuning, resonance, memory. It feels modern yet ancient, a conversation between pipes, room and voice that keeps revealing small details every time you sit with it. Thats the mark of a keeper. Product Reviews Hide Show Write a Review