Dead Can Dance - Spiritchaser

Spiritchaser was Dead Can Dance's seventh album and their last for sixteen years, released on 4AD in 1996. Where earlier records reached toward medieval Europe and the Middle East, this one turns to the rhythms of Africa and the Caribbean. Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard built it at Perry's Quivvy Church studio in Ireland, layering hand drums and chant into long, hypnotic pieces.

Percussion drives the whole record. "Nierika" and "Song of the Dispossessed" pulse with communal, trance-like energy, while Gerrard's wordless vocals soar over the top in a language of her own invention. The nine-minute "Indus" nods openly to George Harrison, folding raga textures into the band's signature grandeur. It is worldbeat filtered through the pair's unmistakable ethereal sensibility.

Spread across four sides for room to breathe, this 4AD double LP restores a lush, immersive record from one of the great art-music duos. Music built for headphones and candlelight.