Project Review - “Covered In Sky” by Raven Eaddy
Electric bass and poetry have always had an contiguous link, a verbal-to-nonverbal marriage much like a quarterback and wide receiver. In music, their love usually drifts in smoke-covered dive bars and juke joints, never taking center stage at your favorite music festival. However, in the land of MP3s, where all audio is equal, Covered In Sky by Raven Eaddy is a strong statement, proving her lines are as compelling as your favorite artist.
For most artists, a four-song EP is just a taste, leaving enough for one or two lines to linger after the final song. For Raven, each song is a lifetime of lines that move along the path of energy exchange through avant-garde, free-flowing lines.
Covered In Sky is described as “Electric bass fed through effects pedals paired with poetry that contemplates the idea that there are no true boundaries between the human and the environment. Foraging a space of stillness and meditation, Covered In Sky reminds the listener of what’s real.”
This EP is paced by the emotional metronome of her bass, speeding up when emotions run high or hitting an easy pace when Raven wants her poems to stroll. Ultimately, every line, guided by the bass, makes you listen and enjoy.
Raven certainly notes the idea of its spontaneity, calling the project “Poetry carefully placed in the low frequencies of improvised bass compositions informed by the energy felt while reading poems from the pages they were written on. A spontaneous act of fusing the literary and the musical transmitted by one body in a single point in time.”
The human-to-plant Interconnection is an energy that often sparks intrigue, as its striking similarities to our green neighbors make it hard to dismiss as coincidence. Raven happily guides listeners through an accelerated course on how the links navigate one another, without boring others or coming across as preachy. It's a relatively short experience, with songs ranging from four to six minutes, where listeners enter a mental flow while vibing with her bass and stories.
On track one, she notes the muted world of winter, where nature stands still to rest in patience for the new glow of spring.
She writes “In the winter/the earth rises to hold us/she knows it’s cold/and it's our choice to be held and be still.”
In terms of subject matter, Raven uses a painter’s technical mastery to create vivid imagery, flawlessly executing lines that describe the brisk winter wind or the quiet, coy conversations between strangers at a fireside chat.
Rewinds are more than appropriate for this project, as a line or two will exit before you can process the next image she paints. This project offers plenty of replay value.
You can check out Covered In Sky here.
