I was first turned on to the music of David Tibet and Current 93 around 2015 with the double reissue of Swastikas for Noddy and Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God. I was blown away by those albums, but since Tibet had been releasing projects since the early to mid '80s, I had a lot to catch up on. As a new convert to the church of Current 93, there's still a lot to learn in Tibet's incredibly cryptic and esoteric world building, revolving around Gnosticism, Aleister Crowley, ancient manuscripts, and dead languages, but he has been making it a little easier in the past few years. Along with releasing 3 (!) new albums last year, The Stars on Their Horsies, The Light is Leaving us All, and the collaboration with Zu, Mirror Emperor, David Tibet has also been slowly trickling out vinyl reissues of his past work for new and old fans alike (still waiting on that All the Pretty Little Horses vinyl, though). So, it is in this maelstrom of prolific activity that Tibet has graced us with Invocations of Almost, an art installation of his paintings, along with an accompanying soundtrack (he also has a fashion line coming out with a Russian apparel company, but I digress). As much as I'd love to zip over to the West coast to see his art, I'll be stuck in Pennsylvania for now, but I'll still share my opinions on its deeply unsettling backdrop.
This installation art reminds me a lot of earlier Current 93 such as Nature Unveiled, what with its chanting samples, ghostly singing, drones, and sonic nightmares. The majority of the album is pretty unsettling, though quite ambient, as you are meant to be focusing a lot on the paintings, though David Tibet does recite some deadpan esoteric prose that borders on ASMR at points. I really have to give props to Andrew Liles (or who I am to assume is Andrew Liles, since this album has no credits) for the soundscapes that are created during the hour runtime. I feel like he comes close to rivaling Steven Stapleton in the creepy electronic soundscape department, as he even manages to inject some dread back into Chopin's funeral march, which has been a cartoon staple since cartoons had sound. While on the subject of Stapleton, I get some Nurse with Wound vibes from this project as well, and while he contributed heavily to Current 93 in the past, I don't feel like Steven Stapleton ever painted with a more horrifying sonic palette when he was left to his own devices.
While being pretty weird and unsettling, I also feel like this album goes through a decent amount of moods. It can also be soothing, meditative, and thought provoking. Upon the first few listens, I have yet to fully digest Tibet's poetry, though to be honest, his poetry is a lot like William Blake's to me; highly coded and borderline indecipherable, but evocative and beautiful nonetheless.
Though Davit Tibet treats this, among other albums like the aforementioned The Stars on Their Horsies as somewhat of stop gap albums, I feel like these efforts are almost just as essential since it displays Current 93 at their most unfiltered and experimental. As for the future, David Tibet and Andre Liles have formed a new group, Nodding God, and plan to release their debut, Play Wooden Child, in the spring via House of Mythology. This record, inspired by the duo's shared interest in cuneiform and and the occult, will feature lyrics sung entirely in Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language and language of Mesopotamia. They are reaching into ancient territory for this release, and I am quite looking forward to it, though I will now have an excuse when I have no idea what Tibet is talking about.
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