His Name Is Alive’s 1990 4AD label debut Livonia cemented the band’s presence among 4AD’s well-established ethereal lineage, reinventing and refracting the label’s sound through a prism. A tender and slightly deranged dream-pop record, it packages nearly ten years of Defever’s home recordings – brought to haunting chorus via the spectral, feminine vocals of Karin Oliver. Produced and mixed by Ivo Watts-Russell and This This Mortal Coil collaborator John Fryer, the record is a powerful opening statement, inviting intrigue via noisy refrains and textural guitar. It examines the dual themes of love and loss, woozily delivered as if dreamlike.
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