Details: Big Bend's September 2024 release a monument to listening through the veil of time and space. Ohio native and primary songwriter, Nathan Phillips, built upon ensemble jam sessions he hosted at a residency in Australia and collaged those recordings alongside co-producer Shahzad Ismaily to make Last Circle in a Slowdown. Reflective, hi-fi, and elemental, the folk-meets-freeform sonics evoke rich 90s acoustic rock and the British post pop songwriting of Mark Hollis and David Sylvian. Lyrical observations of nature's mystery and modes of regeneration consider the looming chance all things could move in any direction. - Lyndsay Knecht