Elijah Ebenezer Wyman: Butterfly Needles

Elijah Ebenezer Wyman
Butterfly Needles
Grinding Tapes
2007-12-02

There is a sense of desperate isolation and intense longing which rings throughout every track on Elijah Ebenezer Wyman’s new effort, Butterfly Needles. This is not only due to the reminiscent lyrics, which chronicle the painful process of sudden discovery and eventual recovery of the author’s kidney disease, but also for the haunting acoustics and vacillating vocals of Elijah Wyman. The echoes and reverberations on this album give the impression that Wyman is recording is a long hallway with nothing for the sound of his steely voice and deep guitar to bounce off against except the solid bare walls. Recorded on a four track, Butterfly Needles is stripped-down, intimate and deeply personal.

RATING 6 / 10