Nothing Here Will Stay by Below The Fir focuses heavily on droning textures, and rural instruments. The vibes range from epic mind-bending droning sounds to quiet moments by the creek with a banjo.
The album does an great job of keeping your attention as there aren't lyrics or drums throughout the record, but there's always a new layer that's coming in or a shift in dynamics that brings the music back into focus.
Some of the standout moments for me on the heavier side are "Streetlight Hum" and "Defiance". "Streetlight Hum" is a little over six minutes long and takes you to a few different plains within it. "Defiance" is a ten and a half minute epic with an oppressive harmonium and dread-inducing chords. Transcendent stuff if you can hang on. Quite a journey.
Some of the quieter moments on the album are "6 AM", a great rainy morning track, and "Cricket Creek" has a banjo groove that walks you through a small stream on a humid day.
"Winter" is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. It builds up as you plod through the snow and then at the 2:13 mark the sunlight comes over the horizon so bright that you have to hide your eyes.
The album comes in at a little under 30 minutes. Throughout the album, Below the Fir morphs between acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, harmonium, taishogoto, glockenspiel, so the textures are constantly changing.
The production leans heavily into lo-fi and intimate spaces, but also will bear down on you with the weight of the droning chords. I found Nothing Here Will Stay to be a rewarding listen from start to finish. The album as a whole has a cohesive vibe, but each track doesn't repeat another.
