Liz Harris has been enthralling audiences with her very special blend of voice and reverberation for some time at this point, and her releases are always perfectly paced and stunningly well-realized. Her next chapter, entitled 'Ruins', is no different. Recorded almost entirely in Aljezur, Portugal while Harris was taking part in a residency, it might be the most stripped-down set of songs she's released so far. The songs came about when Harris happened upon a room with an upright piano - she had a 4-track Sony recorder with her, so that became her setup. After long walks through the ruins of a small village nearby, she would sit at the piano and process, in her own words, "a lot of political anger and emotional garbage." The result is the most naked, raw recordings we've heard from Harris - a far cry from the comparatively sunny 'Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill'.