The dark folk artist Marissa Nadler first crossed paths with Stephen Brodsky, the frontman for the heavy Boston outfits Cave In and Mutoid Man, at Saint Vitus—the Brooklyn metal temple that has just reopened at a new site. Back in 2019 the duo released Droneflower, a collaborative album, and they hit the road together for a tour. Now, it seems they’ve resurfaced and are using Droneflower as their ongoing project name.
Last year Nadler issued her solo record New Radiations. A few months later she linked up with longtime collaborator Milky Burgess to cover Buddy Killen. Today Nadler reconnects with Brodsky and with Emily Lee of Shearwater, who played keyboards during their touring together, to unveil two additional tracks under the Droneflower banner.
Nadler takes the lead on the glassy, haunting, at times weighty anthem “Sky Burial,” the longer of the two pieces on the new two-song single Burials, while Brodsky adds fierce, echo-drenched guitar lines. Brodsky steps forward as the primary vocalist on the briefer “Drive It In,” which carries enough of a Father John Misty vibe to make me momentarily wonder if I’d accidentally unmuted a tab. Take a listen to both tracks below.
In a Bandcamp alert email, Nadler notes that she, Brodsky, and Lee are already at work on a second Droneflower album.
