PRE-ORDER - 2026 ESSENTIAL REPRESS - EXPECTED MID FEBRUARY
2xLP in matte lamination jacket with OBI strip.
This was an unexpectedly hot one when first in last year, so Lobby Art have now done the right thing and introduced a second pressing of the fourth and alleged final outing of Henry Birdsey's New England-based Old Saw unit. Previous records have commonly been categorised as 'ambient', though The Wringing Cloth feels more a re-imagining of the American Primitive tradition amidst a confluence of underground aesthetics. Birdsey is joined by seven other players of various stringed, wind and percussive instruments who unite around a shared pursuit of mid-to-long form folk-oriented, cosmic country-adjacent drone. Dial the clock back 25 years and you'd have easily found a space for this alongside certain figures connected to Constellation and the 'New Weird America' avant folk 'movement'. That helps towards a description now, though really this is really just the kind of artfully-poised, lovingly performed instrumental Americana that often seems to exist outside of any prevailing scene and within the shared understandings of its own close-knit circle. No explanation as to why they're calling time on the project now, but if this is really to be the Old Saw swan song, then it's a beautifully crafted send off played with genuine heart and skill. Adam Wiltzie, Pan-American and late period Earth fans seeking something a little more Appalachian would do well to check in here before Old Saw permanently check out and this second edition is gone for good.
FFO: Adam Wiltzie, Pan-American, Earth, William Tyler, Scenic
