Clara Engel has released a new album, out since June 16, titled Sanguinaria. The collection of minimal, haunting and soulful compositions, 10 tracks in total. Sanguinaria features electric and acoustic guitars, talharpa, gudok, lap steel, melodica, and percussion. Check out this entry from Engel discussing their instrumentation choices with SPB previously.
Engel adds:
When I started writing this collection of songs it was spring of 2022, and bloodroot was blooming in the ravine near where I live. These flowers are spring ephemerals; they burst out of the ground with bright white petals that open, drop, disperse, and seem to be absorbed back into the earth within the span of less than a week. When I looked up bloodroot, I learned that its Latin name is "sanguinaria canadensis" and that the juice from the root is very potent, poisonous in large doses, and can scar the skin. The toxin is most concentrated in the thick bulbous rhizome of the plant, which is bright red if you slice it open. I read also that bloodroot has a long history of medicinal use in several different Indigenous cultures.
In addition to the new Sanguinaria, Engel has collaborated with artists including Aidan Baker, Armen Ra, Thor Harris, and Siavash Amini.
