Return again and again to FOONYAP’s planet
What’s the deal? Classically trained violinist, electronics maestro and reliably breathtaking vocalist Foon Yap has collaborated with Woodpigeon and Art Bergmann, soundtracked films by Anne Koizumi and played self-described “vampire sex metal disco” with Calgary’s now-defunct FOONYAP and the Roar, but she made a point of withdrawing into herself and finding her own voice on her brilliant new solo debut, Palimpsest.
Indeed, the proud assertion of Foon’s own identity in defiance of shame and emotional pain lingering from a repressive upbringing spent hustling back and forth between violin practice and a traditional Chinese-Catholic household is one of this moving and utterly unique record’s major themes. And FOONYAP’s musical identity is hers and hers alone to claim here; Palimpsest moves fluidly and confidently from whispery acoustic folk to electrogilded avant-classical deconstructionism to obsidian New Wave as if it was perfectly natural to do so.
Like Foxtrott’s 2015 stunner A Taller Us or Bjork’s recent output, Palimpsest’s meticulous genius only reveals itself with some investment on the listener’s part. “Gabriel Moody,” for instance, unspools uncertainly over eight minutes, with nothing but haltingly plucked strings and FOONYAP’s unguarded singing to keep you company until a winding violin melody comes in at the halfway point, nudging you toward a breathtaking chorale of overdubbed voices that finally brings the track to a climax at the six-minute mark.
Accept the challenge once and you’ll find it very easy to return to FOONYAP’s planet again and again. You might, in fact, not want to leave.
Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences “Go to the secret spaces where my songs are born and sing from there. Allow myself to be vulnerable, quiet and devastatingly imperfect.”
What’s a song I need to hear right now? “Neon God.” Not exactly representative of the whole, but it will send shivers up and down your spine for three minutes straight. Black as coal, redolent of P.J. Harvey at her most menacing.
Where can I see her play? At the Holy Oak with JindaLee and James Irwin on Dec. 3.
“Early show for chillin’,” apparently. 6:30 p.m. start.