You Have Already Gone to the Other World

A Hawk & a Hacksaw’s sixth album came together after the duo provided a live soundtrack to the celebrated 1964 Ukrainian film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors during a recent European theater tour. You Have Already Gone to the Other World combines dialogue and music from the film with newly recorded traditional folk material and original songs to create an eerie, vibrantly passionate tapestry of sound. Heather Trost’s dancing violin and Jeremy Barnes’ expressive accordion keep the arrangements rooted in traditional Eastern European modes, while adding modern percussion and other contemporary touches in key spots. And the album invokes the themes of love, death, and transcendence that the film captures. The sweep of these songs ranges from the title track's unleashed energy to the shimmering atmosphere of “Where No Horse Neighs and No Crow Flies” and the buoyant swirl of “Ivan and Marichka/The Sorcerer.” “Wedding Song”—an angelic piece built around a Slavic choir—provides the album’s most undeniably beautiful moment. Best listened to in its entirety, Other World transports listeners to realms both scary and sublime.