Loom

The folk inflection and multiplicity of Gately’s vocals make the album seem ancient. Or conjured. The songs aren’t ghostly as much as they feel witnessed, imbued with a palpable presence. ... Gately has sampled and mixed in her mother’s voice with her own, as if in acceptance of the balance of life and death. This co-existence – or the yearning for it – is ingrained in this astonishing album as a freshly carved cut in a foundational wooden beam. [Mar 2020, p.48]

A stunning achievement, with Loom Gately beautifully honors her mother as well as her commitment to uncompromising music.

On Loom, she takes her interest in found sound to a gloomy, thought-provoking new depth.

Hulking beats and a cloudy, black electronic roar set the tone, but powerful sound design is the key. [Feb 2020, p.91]

With this album, Gately set out to "capture the weird spikey nature of this kind of looming doom, but also to include some absurd colours," and the result is a swirling mix of eerie atmosphere, devastating emotion and brilliant sonic abstraction. It is Gately's best work yet.

Loom is an intense record, full of feelings of loss, confusion and angst. It’s also an early contender for best electronic album of the year.

The collection sounds like a deep dive into the ominous shuffling of Color’s outlier titular track, an ideal musical direction given the subject matter.