Maria BC is not afraid to delve into mystery on their new album Spike Field. The album revels in ambient and electronic elements, creating a sense of capaciousness and exploration: you’ll want to listen to this with your best headphones — but not too loud; Maria BC intersperses their soundscapes with the nominative spikes, discordant elements throughout the compositions that ultimately create a language of their own.
The album’s title is inspired by the granite thorns used to cover nuclear waste dumping grounds. This was one suggestion as a result of a team of artists and linguists working together to create a warning to dissuade visitors long, long after we are gone to avoid the site. Maria BC uses this project to examine how we abandon our past selves with an eye to the person we hope to create.
This is not an optimistic meditation. Throughout Spike Field, Maria BC uncovers pieces of their past — including musical compositions — and seeks to salvage what they can. The harsh glitching on the album’s opening track “Amber” soften to the at-times discordant meditation of “Return to sender.” The final track, the album’s namesake, puts a lid on the chaos with an instrumental track that serves to put to rest the raw emotion earlier in the piece, resolved the musical themes woven throughout, and encourages ask to ask more questions than the ones we began with.
Spike Field will be released on all streaming services tomorrow, October 20th.
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