Ball of Wax 67 Songs: Lys Guillorn – “Treeline”

Lys Guillorn‘s “Treeline” is a stark yet still somehow hopeful look at the new world we find ourselves in, a meditation propelled primarily by kalimba and Lys’s singular alto, with support from a variety of other percussion instruments and an occasional langourous zap from an electric guitar. The earthy, metallic pulse of the kalimba and the overdriven sustain of the guitar make for a pleasantly jarring contrast that immediately pricks up the ears. Have I ever heard a duo for kalimba and electric guitar before? I don’t think so, but now I need to hear more. (This is me pre-accepting any electric guitar/kalimba duos I receive as submissions for Volume 68.) As the sounds remind you to listen, the words remind you to feel, and to look. Lys’s words create a vivid scene and call to mind all sorts of associations, immersing us in the colors and sensations of the natural world.  “I feel blown apart like a seedhead scattering, and what’s left is a spike like a stamen,” Lys sings, before reminding us to “look up, look up, and look down.” Whatever the future brings, they seem to say, listening and looking will always be important.