Seattle musician Gregory Flores has made music under such names as Beestings, Son Things, and Age of the Earth, but it’s his home recorded project as Flowers that has really caught our ears recently! The artist’s limited edition cassette Afterwardsness, just out today, is his first physical release for the local label Mother Image Records, and it smolders with bedroom intimacy, and Flores’ musical talent for crafting truly offbeat ambiance. At times working outside the realms of standard tunings, and with an idiosyncratic songwriting approach that foregrounds his own musical instincts over convention, Flores uses his multi-instrumental and vocal talents to craft a rivetingly personal aesthetic. On the cassette’s fourth track, “Twin Colts“, he casts an eery rural beauty from strangely tuned guitars, strummed and picked in duet. Meanwhile, in hushed vocals, he tangles with his desire, as in the breathy, droned refrain where he repeats “I am dying”, three times, before finishing with the line, “to get close to you”. Though almost willfully arty in it’s approach, and bearing echos of other singular musicians like Jandek, Bill Callahan, or Will Oldham, Flores’ haunting and cinematic style still always seems to leave a mark! Flowers celebrates the release of Afterwardness with a show tonight at The Black Lodge in Seattle, WA. Come down and buy a tape, before they’re all gone!
