Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See

What do you call this music? Gothic Folk? Chamber Blues? Psychedelic Americana? Whatever you call it, it’s entrancing. Reverb-soaked and sparse, with a weird sort of grinding and dreamy logic undergirding it narcotic kaleidoscope of sound, the sonicality here is impressive for how lush it seems, while relying on very little instrumentation beyond the canonical drums, bass, and guitar thing you’d expect from any “alternative rock” act …

Hope Sandoval’s vocals are at once both sodden and dreamy, and alternatively float over and sink beneath the weight of the music. The vibe is all the things mentioned above—bluesy, gothic, and psychedelic—but what sets her apart from similarly breathy chanteuses and rootsy torchers playing in similar fields is the genuine weirdness of her lyrics:

After I stuck my hands
Into your ground
And pulled out somebody else’s son

I felt a little unfortunate
A little mistaken

I felt like I’d been wasted
All day long

Which are taken from the song “Wasted,” which, along with the cover of Arthur Lee’s “Five-String Serenade” and the stunningly beautiful acoustic guitar and violin-only “Into Dust,” are your recommended tracks to start with.