Listen/review: Pallas Athene – What I Want

Words by Tim Hakki @TimHakki

In her Spirit Oak project, Canadian musician Breanna Johnston perfected a kind of experimental down home folk that shone head and shoulders above the contemporary glut of North American MOR – just listen to ‘Rising Sun’ on SoundCloud with its backwards guitar and blistering brass solo. After nearly losing her fingers in an accident she quit playing for a while but now she’s back under the new moniker Pallas Athene. Debut track ‘What I Want’ is a masterclass in subtlety. Her folky lullaby vocals entwine with an unobtrusive synth gently lulling the ears like the soft lapping of a woodland spring. Entrancing stuff for a debut track.

Pallas Athene’s self-titled EP is out mid-September on FatCat Records