It’s always a pleasure to find out there’s a Grouper album making its way into the world.

Liz Harris has been enthralling audiences with her very special blend of voice and reverberation for some time at this point, and her releases are always perfectly paced and stunningly well-realized. Her next chapter, entitled Ruins, is no different.

Recorded almost entirely in Aljezur, Portugal while Harris was taking part in a residency, it might be the most stripped-down set of songs she’s released so far. The songs came about when Harris happened upon a room with an upright piano – she had a 4-track Sony recorder with her, so that became her setup. After long walks through the ruins of a small village nearby, she would sit at the piano and process, in her own words, “a lot of political anger and emotional garbage.”

The result is the most naked, raw recordings we’ve heard from Harris – a far cry from the comparatively sunny Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill. Fittingly, it’s set for release on Halloween – we can’t imagine a more perfect time to enjoy it.

Tracklist:

01 Made of Metal
02 Clearing
03 Call Across Rooms
04 Labyrinth
05 Lighthouse
06 Holofernes
07 Holding
08 Made of Air

Ruins will be released on October 31 via Kranky.