Two stunning releases on one CD by Toronto avant-folk, singer songwriter Clara Engel.

"The Cicada Session: Singing at home in early September 2021, with the window open. Voice, cigar box guitar, two microphones, intermittent cicadas.

These songs appear in more filled-out and lush form on Dressed in Borrowed Light and A New Skin. This is more how I would render them if I were playing shows and touring solo (which I used to do often, and will hopefully do again one day)."

In the Fog: The atmosphere of this EP makes me think of the fairy-tale film noir "The Night of the Hunter," though that wasn't a conscious intention when I was making it. I recorded it at home with my field recorder, and Mitchell Girio mastered it for me at The Slow Cooker. It features mostly electric guitar, with some vocals here and there. The mood is dusk, swamps, indistinct edges...all objects and beings alive with luminous aspects and frequencies that are drowned out by the harsh light of day.