KRANKY 20th February 2026
Extremely tactile, the deep string sounds are bowed and felt in the marrow.
Having been destined for a career as a viola player in a classical ensemble, Isabel Pine stepped sideways into a path of individual creativity that has led to a number of self-released EPs and singles on Bandcamp. Moving to British Columbia, with its harsh beauty led to an awakening for her. Recording in a small cabin with cello, violin and double bass, she experimented with field recordings of the nature around her. Moving on, she started recording outside. Curious as to “how it would sound if I recorded outside entirely, with the natural reverb and sounds of the environment in the recording from the very beginning. The rustling of the leaves or a raven’s beating wings were as integral to the music as whatever I played.”
These are quiet and thoughtful pieces with an organic feel that I didn’t expect from compositions constructed in layers with overdubs and washes of electronics. The sensation is that additional instruments are additional feelings or comments, adding a richness rather than a different voice. The whole is, of course, filmic and meditative; an audio picture, an abstract. In cold weather, this is music for staring out of the window, noticing minutiae – a leave blowing in the wind, a branch twitching, the fall of a snowflake, a wandering squirrel. As the year warms, this will be late night music, for cooling evenings and distant breezes.
Fables is a captivatingly atmospheric album.
Ross McGibbon