Life, And Another

On "Life, and Another," Mega Bog (the world-inhabiting moniker of song-animator Erin Birgy) cultivates a lush garden filled with plants that may appear extraterrestrial to the unsuspecting observer, but are indeed native to Earth. Departing from the humid Holodeck spider plant nursery of the previous record "Dolphine" (2019), Mega Bog's latest album brings us back to our home planet, immersing us in the rarified air pressure of a dried-up desert valley where its fourteen songs were conceived and scattered like stones across the landscape. True to Birgy's alchemical writing practice, these bright stones refuse to blend into their arid surroundings, each one a precious gem chiseled by the anti-capitalist geologist's hammer to reveal the dazzling life that thrives beneath the dusty exteriors of both the northern Nevada of her youth and the rural New Mexico of the album's inception. Collaborating with "Life, and Another's" co-producer, engineer, and percussionist James Krivchenia (Big Thief) in a small cabin near the Rio Grande off of NM State Route 68, Birgy found herself often alone, suspended between their separate touring schedules. In these silent interludes, Birgy grappled with a complete loss of self amidst the vast expanse. Contemplations on mortality in the midst of solitude led to troubling projections and a struggle to maintain positivity. Days were spent pacing the property