Roslyn Steer is a member of Morning Veils, who specialise in “forgotten folk”. She is also a PhD student at NUI Maynooth, writing a thesis on screaming at the department of music. These two interests come together on her solo release Still Moving, a tape for her own label KantCope (a delightful play on words).
Side One is taken up fully by the title track, a half-hour meandering body of work that shifts between chilling spoken word, drawn-out, lilting harmonica and twisted church bells that meet rugged guitar distortion. A huge entity, its breadth and ambition is matched by its gob-smacking success.
Flip the tape over and tracks are just as wondrous and discordant. ‘Thus Spake’ is bright and jarring, ‘Hey Sunshine’ beautiful yet repetitive. Steer pushes repetition to nauseating effect on closing track “Do You Ever Get Sick?”, asking “Do you ever get sick of the sound of your own voice?” over and over, ad nauseam, prodding and provoking the listener. Listen through, start over, however, and redemption awaits. Aidan Hanratty
