“Anhedonia” by Statues in Fog

Glen Johnson describes Statues in Fog’s most recent release thusly: “I was attempting to create a sort of pastoral plasticity if you like… A synthetic, utopian landscape you’re more likely to encounter in a dream than in reality.” As the bandleader for the dearly departed Piano Magic, Johnson certainly knows a thing or two about creating evocative music; if you have any doubts about that, just listen to Low Birth Weight or Artists’ Rifles.

Statues in Fog certainly shares a similar vibe with Piano Magic even as it veers into more synth-oriented compositions. But those compositions are still quite stirring. Penultimate song “Anhedonia” uses a drum machine and drifting, diaphanous synth flourishes as the backdrop for Sarah Kemp’s (The Declining Winter) pensive violin arrangements. Evocative, it most certainly is, and a sterling example of “a very particular European, Kodak romanticism,” as Johnson puts it.

Statues in Fog is currently available from Second Language Music.