Clementine Valentine – The Coin That Broke The Fountain Floor (Flying Nun)

Clementine Valentine are two sisters who make music as ethereal as their names.

Formerly Purple Pilgrims (2 albums 2016/2019) Clementine and Valentine Nixon have now rebranded themselves but continue to record for Flying Nun Records.

They come from a long line of musicians in the family and have spent time living in various lo9cations around New Zealand as well as in Hong Kong. Musically, there are elements of English folk, medieval chants and Celtic melodies mixed with more modern influences from the likes of PJ Harvey, Kate Bush and fellow Kiwi Aldous Harding.

The Coin That Broke The Fountain Floor was produced Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Jim Jarmusch, Marissa Nadler) with percussion provided by ace drummer Matt Chamberlain (David Bowie, Tori Amos, Lorde).

Together the team makes a sound that could almost define the tem “dreampop”.

Gatekeeper opens the record with a low drone and percussion set at a funereal pace.

“I don’t sleep, I’m up all night”, we here the sisters’ voices meld into one.

All I See features a gentle, propulsive beat, a lush synth line and, because it contains something akin to a “hook”, stays with the listener a bit longer…as some of the tracks seem to float off into to the ether.

Time And Tide has a dramatic 80’s flair about it musically and a sweeping Wuthering Heights-era Kate Bush-like vocal performance.

Tracks four and five, The Understudy and Selenelion feel like the heart of this 9-song collection.  The Understudy has an otherworldly, olde Celtic folk feel to it along with gothic Medieval drones, while Selenelion, the duo’s most recent single, takes us back to earth…a good, solid track no matter what genre you want to call it.

Final track, All Yesterday’s Flowers sends us off soaring, a beautiful end to a new beginning for Clementine and Valentine.

Marty Duda

The Coin That Broke The Fountain Floor is released August 25th on Flying Nun Records.