''Wind's Poem'' is the fourth full-length album by

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of the Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

, released on July 14, 2009. Several of the tracks are inspired by

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

, and showcases

Phil Elverum Philip Whitman Elverum (; born May 26, 1978) is an American musician and songwriter known for his Independent music, indie bands the Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began to spell his surname Elv ...

's "relatively newfound affinity for

Xasthur Xasthur () is the project of American musician Scott "Malefic" Conner. Conner formed Xasthur in 1995 and released eight studio albums of black metal by 2010, when he announced the end of the project. However, he began using the name once again ...

and other lynchpins of the unholy genre."

Background and composition

While making the album Elverum wished to move away from his usual style; creating an album about violent changes. He intended for it to be the loudest record he had made at the time but also to feature significant emotion. Elverum cites

as an influence for the album. At certain points on the record Elverum attempts to replicate Xasthur's Subliminal Genocide. A hill he used to live on and 1990s American drama television series ''Twin Peaks'' were also influential. Despite music publications such as Pitchfork labelling the album "black metal", Elverum has denounced the genre tag, clarifying that "It's definitely not a black metal album and the whole idea of doing kind of a kitschy genre album is so embarrassing and shallow." Recording took place from between February 14, 2008, and March 27, 2009, at Nowhere,

Anacortes Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.Nick Krgovich. Elverum recorded the album by adding various layers to the compositions. Elverum did not play the drums on a drum set, instead recording each drum individually on their own track. Elverum did this to allow for

drum roll A drum roll (or roll for short) is a technique used by percussionists to produce a tremolo, sustained sound for the duration of a musical note, written note.Cirone, Anthony J. (1991). Simple Steps to Snare Drum', p.30-31. Alfred. . "The pur ...

s on each drum simultaneously. The vocals were intentionally mixed low to encourage listeners to turn the volume up—causing the album to "

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

around the listener...like a dream." The album was mixed in

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

Field recording Field recording is the production of audio recordings outside recording studios, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It can also include the recording of electromagnetic fields or vibrations using diff ...

s of wind are featured on the album. Elverum used distorted cymbals to emulate the sound of wind.

Music

The

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

of nature is featured throughout the album. Elverum described the central theme of the album as wind. Specifically its "destruction-and-rebirth cycle", "wind as an example of the personality that exists in dark nature" and occurrence of wind sounding like whispering. Elverum explained the central idea of ''Wind's Poem:'' Elverum incorporates many different perspectives on the album. These include the "voice of...wind", himself and a combination of them. Wind is represented on the album as “River” The symbol/character of a stone is present in the album as well. The stone serves as an inverse to the wind. The stone is intended to represent "all tangible things. My face, this building, that mountain, that flower." Certain phrases are repeated throughout the album. The lyrics deal with "fundamental dualities." At times the lyrics are almost unintelligible due to the sound overwhelming them. Musically the album is reminiscent of his 2008 EP Black Wooden Ceiling Opening and

dynamic Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics), the study of forces and their effect on motion Brands and enter ...

in nature with Elverum describing it as "Quiet/loud/quiet/loud." He also noted how he "recorded two songs on the album that were loud the whole way through, but the other 10 songs are like synthetic goth-pop". The first song on the album, "Wind's Dark Poem", features a black metal style opening. The opening consists of

blast beat A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal, death metal and their respective subgenres,Adam MacGregor, '' PCP Torpedo'' ...

s, layered synths and distorted guitars. Elverum wished for the album to "start at 100 percent volume. All noise at once, and then back off into song a little." He described the lyrics as "a collection of images and ideas", "that came out of me at the very beginning of the writing of this album that were kind of the seeds that the rest of the songs came from." He sings in a speaking singing manner, akin to reading a poem. Elverum described the song as a "

table of contents A table of contents (or simply contents, abbreviated as TOC), is a list usually part of the Book design#Front matter, front matter preceding the main text of a book or other written work containing the titles of the text's sections, sometimes with ...

...a bunch of noise and ideas that are a preview for what's to come. Track 0, before track 1." "The epic lullaby", "Through The Trees" was an attempt with fellow musician Nick Krgovich to recreate "

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

sound-track synth music", specifically "Polish Poem" from ''

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

''. The hill mentioned in the song is a reference to a hill Elverum lived on and the experience of "watching the lives of people below and feeling different" living there gave him. The lyrics are more political than the other songs, with Elverum referencing the "land of dream", a metaphor for America. Krgovich sings alongside Elverum, however his voice is "high and distant"—intended to represent the wind. It was the first song to be recorded on February 14, 2008. It features multi-tracked vocals and

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

. In an interview with

Believer Magazine ''The Believer'' is an American quarterly magazine of interviews, essays, and reviews, founded by the writers Heidi Julavits, Vendela Vida, and Ed Park in 2003. The magazine is a thirteen-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. Between 20 ...

, Elverum commented that, due to the song's length, it would be more fitting as the final track rather than the second. His decision to place the song there instead was to demonstrate the album's challenging and unorthodox nature. Krgovich also collaborated on the songs "Between Two Mysteries", "Ancient Questions", and "Stone's Ode". Elverum described their creative process as free-form, stating that Mount Erie from the water

"My Heart Is Not at Peace" features "malleted" cymbals. "The Hidden Stone" and "The Mouth of Sky" are reminiscent of the

guitar riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

heavy songs "I Want to Be Cold" and "Samurai Sword" from his 2001 album

The Glow Pt. 2 ''The Glow Pt. 2'' (occasionally with The Glow in quotes, or with "Two" spelt out) is the third studio album by American indie folk and indie rock project the Microphones. It was released on September 11, 2001, through K Records and later throu ...

. "Summons" is more relaxed than the black metal infused songs on the album. "My Heart Is Not at Peace" and "Summons" continue the wind motif, posing it as both "destroyer" and "revealer". This is a direct reference to

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

's poem "Ode to the West Wind" ''“Destroyer and preserver; hear, O hear!"''. "Wind Speaks" as explained by Elverum is about "standing on Commercial Avenue, and clouds are rolling off a hill on Mount Erie, and it's windy." The lyrics concern the idea of being an embodiment of nature. "Between Two Mysteries" samples " Laura Palmer's Theme" by

Angelo Badalamenti Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an American composer and arranger best known for his film music, notably the scores for his collaborations with director David Lynch, '' Blue Velvet'' (1986), ''Twin Peaks'' (1 ...

and directly references

the show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** S ...

by name. It features

palm mute The palm mute is a technique for guitar and bass guitar known for its muted sound. It is performed by placing the side of the picking hand across the guitar's strings, close to the bridge, while picking. The name is a misnomer as the muting is ...

d electric guitars,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, an ascending vocal melody and synthesized strings playing the aforementioned sample. "Ancient Questions" incorporates

nihilistic Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that life is meaningless, that moral values are baseless, and that knowledge is impossible. Thes ...

lyrics, guitar picking, keyboard accompaniment and guitar sounds similar to those used on

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

song "Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair". The album's climax "Lost Wisdom pt. 2"'s opening is similar to that which opened the album. A section of lyrics from the track "Stone's Ode" was taken from the

Burzum Burzum (; ) is a Norwegian music project founded by former Mayhem member Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a staple of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most infl ...

song "Dunkelheit". The song focuses on the "world of dreams" idea introduced earlier on the album. Elverum explained that the world of dreams is a reference to the

buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

idea of existence as an illusion. The song is composed of two different

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

which deal with the day and night respectively. It reuses the ascending vocal melody from "Between Two Mysteries".

Tour

After the release of the album, Elverum embarked on an

autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...

tour with Krgovich,

Tara Jane O'Neil Tara Jane O'Neil (born November 22, 1972) (surname sometimes written as "ONeil"; sometimes credited as TJO) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, audio recording engineer, and visual artist based out of Los Angeles, California, Unite ...

and Julia Jacklin from NO KIDS in support of the album. Elverum and O'Neil played the guitar and were accompanied by two drummers and two keyboard players. The tour received a positive reception. Ben Ratliff in his review of the show played at the

Le Poisson Rouge (Le) Poisson Rouge (often referred to as LPR) is a music venue and multimedia art cabaret in New York City founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of the Village Gate at 158 Bleecker Street. The performance space was ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

described the show as "a recollected chronicle of awe, sung in a high, light voice, a little like Will Oldham's, but clearer and straighter, without its coils and burrs." Crawford Philleo of The Know reviewing the show played at Rhinoceropolis, Denver wrote that "Elverum and company terrorized the venue with sonic blasts of distortion so heavy the walls shook" concluding with "The set was nothing less than amazing".

Critical reception

Upon release, the album received critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s, the album has received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 85, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 12 reviews.

Legacy

Ian Gromley of ''Exclaim!'' chose the album as one of Elverum's essential albums.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Mount Eerie albums P. W. Elverum & Sun albums