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Like a scene from a dream, Thor Harris stood upon a crowded stage, 13 players deep: tapping, plucking, bowing, blowing lyric-less love songs to a grand auditorium of 325 shining red seats – without a soul sitting in any of them. This was the creation of 'Heathen Spirituals', the fifth recorded work by Harris’ adventurous ambient ensemble Thor & Friends and the first that accurately resembles the skyward repetition of the Austin-based group’s live performances.

It’s a century-old concept: cutting a record in an empty music hall. Masterminded by intrepid producer and lifelong Harris collaborator Craig Ross (Patty Griffin, Spoon), Thor & Friends’ roster of musically accomplished misfits spent two days wired up, playing free flowing meditational pieces on unamplified orchestral instruments inside Jessen Auditorium, a stunning Art Deco relic from the early days of the University of Texas’ Butler School of Music – the esteemed institution that Harris dropped out from decades ago.

A craftsman, artistically and otherwise, Thor Harris is master plumber, carpenter, and woodworker. In musical contexts, his name is often followed by the five words: “known for his work with,” having been a member of avant rock godheads SWANS and high-minded indie favorites Shearwater, while also factoring into important recordings by Bill Callahan, Amanda Palmer, Devendra Banhart, and Shahzad Ismaily. In many circles, Harris is equally well-known for being an openhearted mental health advocate with a devilish sense of humor and a penchant for entertaining social commentary (Harris’ “How to Punch a Nazi” instructional video got him famously banned from Twitter in 2017).

'Heathen Spirituals', arriving on Joyful Noise Recordings, contains three original pieces with a 35-minute runtime. The rhythmic repetition of opening seance 'Anne Sexton’s Glasses' evokes a cognitive crescendo, while the spellbinding 'Christmas Eve at the Wizard’s House' evokes a sense of weightlessness, sucking the listener up into the firmament then floating them back down. The crashing, choir-backed 'Heathen Spiritual', meanwhile, stirs a gorgeous requiem for a dying planet. In glorious fidelity, the sessions capture the instinctual purity of Thor & Friends’ live performances, which thrive on skyward repetition.

TRACK LISTING

1. Anne Sexton's Glasses
2. Heathen Spiritual
3. Christmas Eve At The Wizard’s House