Pefkin returns to Sheffield-based micro-label Sonido Polifonico with a mini album of songs based on the descriptions of the effects of the wind on land and sea that feature in the Beaufort Scale.

“At the beginning of 2022, after gigging with Burd Ellen during the autumn, I returned to my solo project of Pefkin, and finding it difficult to get started on making anything meaningful, decided to commit to recording something shorter and simpler, using just one instrument, each night. I would then leave it and decide whether I was going to ditch it or work on it further the following day. I used a couple of synths, violin, array of pedals, found sounds and field recordings. I used the Beaufort Scale descriptions to suggest topics to me for lyrics. The pieces feel more immediate and concise than my more recent work.”

The resulting 5 pieces range from folk-tinged dream-pop awash with bird song, chimes and violin to fogbound ambience riven with a deep sense of unease.

"Pefkin create the most beautiful hymnals to nature and landscape. Hot on the heels of The Light Bends Inwards, Observations on Land and Sea, the latest album from the Ayrshire based artist Gayle Brogan, started life following a tour with Burd Ellen, the drone-folk project she shares with Debbie Armour taking traditional folk song into darker realms. It is however the Beaufort Scale which provided the inspiration for lyrics on Observations on Land and Sea. An empirical measurement describing the impact of wind on land and sea might not seem the most interesting source matter but Pefkin transform it into something magical and dreamlike. The five tracks contained on Observations on Land and Sea encapsulate a beguiling sound which is hypnotic and sometimes meditative.

A calm lulling drone flows throughout 'The Sea is a Mirror', where Brogan's haunting vocals offer movement, gently overlapping like waves lapping on the shore. The constant to and fro motion accompanied by ripples of shimmer and sparkle. Sullen sound textures shift slowly on 'Smoke Drift' but it's Brogan's wistful intonations that captivate here, softly unfolding shadowed in solemn synths creating a sense of sacred stillness. The hushed singing of 'Crested Wavelets on Inland Water' carries the beauty of a folk song, filled with references to Gayle Brogan's abiding fascination with nature and ornithology. From underneath the drone of an electric violin emerges, and breezes outwards in mournful tremulous vibrations.

Amidst the glistening drone of 'Leaves Rustle and the Wind in my Hair / Light Flags Extended', a glockenspiel taps out a fragmented melody while birds chatter and the gentle harmonious voice arises, accompanied by a forlorn electric violin, from the enchanted air. Midway through it segues into moody drone movements with the low wail of a foghorn, casting billowing wordless harmonies into the distance. While this one, the longest of the short tracks on Observations on Land and Sea, may count as the most complex it's 'Loose Papers', the final track that surprises and enchants, and which may be their most song based composition to date.

"You sit at your window chair, shuffling loose papers" sings Brogan, a lyric returned to often on 'Loose Papers', over arcing drones and shimmering synths. Decidedly deceptive, on the surface it sounds like the most simple of Pefkin songs but it paints a vivid picture of a gathering storm and the chill brought on by the lightning and thunder. Consider it a rare slice of atmospheric dreamy pop folktronica.

Observations on Land and Sea is perhaps more minimal than previous releases, it is however no less enchanting. Quickly following The Light Bends Inwards it's clear Pefkin are on a creative roll. Pefkin are a unique voice within experimental and folk circles, and one deserving of being better known. After a day's work they make a perfect companion for countryside walks. Let this do for you what it did for me. Copies of the limited lathe-cut vinyl release are gone now but Observations on Land and Sea is available digitally from Pefkin bandcamp " (Compulsion)

"Originally released as a lathe cut on Sonido Polifonico, now long sold out, “Observations On Land And Sea” features five relatively short tunes (by Pefkin Standards) with one of them clocking in at under four minutes. With vocals that seem to be coming from the other side of a frozen lake, “The Sea Is A Mirror” is a delicate opening tune that echoes and shimmers like mist on a rocky shore at low tide, the rippling waves glimpsed through the shroud of grey, that same grey shroud following you into your dreams as “Smoke Drift” takes over, a slow motion tune that hardly moves, fragile and hard to find against a sullen sky, yet completely engulfing you with its eerie drone.

With each track based on descriptions in the Beaufort Scale this collection is a wonderful evocation of natural places with “Crested Wavelets On Inland Water” vividly bringing to life images suggested by the title, whilst “Leaves Rustle and the Wind in my Hair / Light Flags Extended” is a game of two halves the first filled with light and birdsong before dark clouds roll in for the second half, the sounds more abstract and unsettling before finally fading into a single vocal note.

To end, “Loose Papers” is a hymn to nature sung by an altar of stones as old Gods open one eye and shed a tear for such wonders, the tune timeless and very haunting.

Those who know the work of Pekin should definitely add these to the collection and if, by some chance, you are new to Gayle's work then this is the perfect place to immerse yourself and enjoy." (Terrascope)

"Another haunting missive from the mythic woodlands Pefkin’s Gayle Brogan draws into the sonic realm. Observations on Land and Sea are shrouded in an ethereal mist. Brogan channels through timeless vocal incantations and phantom drones. Memories emerge from darkening pathways as guideposts into an immaterial abyss. These songs are otherwordly with spindly harmonic fragments gleaning any bits of light from beyond and sending it back through time through stirring violin motifs and gossamer atmospheres. Brogan wields the aural gravity like a stone sled, these four songs tracing an unforgettable path between two impermanent horizons. Long after the last notes blend into the midnight wind, Observations on Land and Sea echoes into the distant morning." (Foxy Digitalis)

"Gayle Brogan’s solo project shines very brightly on this mini-album.

With ephemeral ambient-folk soundscapes that highlight the beauty of Brogan’s voice, this highly atmospheric lathe cut is as bewitching as it gets. Fans of folk horror soundtracks and Sharron Kraus NEED to listen to this record, preferably while outside by the sea, as the ocean winds were a major source of inspiration for this music." (Record Crates United)