Sarah Davachi Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir
Sarah Davachi's Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir frames grief and early Baroque sonority through slow-building organ and brass ensembles, offering a measured, immersive listening experience that critics largely admire. Across three professional reviews the record earned an 80/100 consensus score, with writers praising how long-form composition and textural restraint create moments of real emotional force.
Critics consistently single out “The Crier's Choir”, “Possente Spirto” and “Res Sub Rosa” as standout tracks. Reviewers note “The Crier's Choir” for its pivot from spritely organ figures to hushed restraint, while “Possente Spirto” and “Res Sub Rosa” are celebrated for trombone and brass lines that pierce through sustained drone. The Line of Best Fit highlights the organ-centred centerpiece and “Trio For A Ground” for their continuo, Mellotron and viola d'amore textures, evidencing the album's bridge between studio craft and live immediacy.
While praise centers on atmosphere, texture and Davachi's synthesis of early Baroque influences with contemporary timbral detail, critics also emphasize unpredictability and an improvisatory feel that can demand patient listening. Across three professional reviews the critical consensus suggests Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir is a rewarding, if restrained, addition to Davachi's catalog, particularly for those interested in organ-and-drone-driven lamentation and ensemble interplay. Below, the reviews unpack why these tracks emerge as the best songs on the album and how the record fits within her broader work.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
The Crier's Choir
3 mentions
"There's a short pause at about the two-minute mark of "The Crier's Choir" that is breathtaking"— Exclaim
Possente Spirto
3 mentions
""Possente Spirto" and "Res Sub Rosa" are kindred works"— Exclaim
Res Sub Rosa
3 mentions
"the harmonic interaction of the bass flutes and bass clarinets in the latter piece is a beautiful reminder"— Exclaim
There's a short pause at about the two-minute mark of "The Crier's Choir" that is breathtaking
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Prologo
Possente Spirto
The Crier's Choir
Trio For A Ground
Res Sub Rosa
Constants
Night Horns
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 3 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Sarah Davachi's Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir feels like an overgrown bridge between studio craft and live immediacy, and the reviewer's praise lands squarely on tracks such as “The Crier's Choir” and “Possente Spirto”. The writing highlights how a two-minute pause in “The Crier's Choir” shifts organ playing from spritely to restrained, making it one of the best tracks on Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir. Likewise, “Possente Spirto” (and the kin “Res Sub Rosa”) are singled out for trombone performances that pierce warmly, marking them among the best songs on the album. Overall the tone is admiring and measured, crediting Davachi with synthesizing studio intention and live happenstance into a compelling new direction.
Key Points
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The Crier's Choir is best for its breathtaking two-minute organ transition that crystallizes the album's balance of sprightliness and restraint.
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The album's core strengths are its fusion of studio intention and live unpredictability, and its rich instrumental textures, especially organ and trombone.
Themes
Re
Critic's Take
Sarah Davachi's Head As Form'd in the Crier's Choir is her most emotionally resonant record, its best songs offering sustained, searing grief. The album's standout moments - “Possente Spirto” and the closer “Night Horns” - pair austere melody and vast drone to make the best tracks on Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir truly unforgettable. On “Possente Spirto” a sombre melody in the first 90 seconds frames ten minutes of surging drone, while “Night Horns” breathes like Radigue-esque organ grief. The record lives, shapeshifts and grieves, and those compositional peaks are why listeners will search for the best songs on this album.
Key Points
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The best song is "Night Horns" for its Radigue-like organ drone that delivers the album's deepest grief.
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The album's core strengths are its long-form drone, varied instrumentation (pipe organs, trombones, violas) and mythic emotional resonance.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sarah Davachi returns with Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir, an album that wears its early Baroque influences openly while keeping a modern, textural sensibility. The reviewer's ear is caught most by the organ-centred centerpiece “The Crier's Choir” and the following, delicately woven “Trio For A Ground”, both singled out for their resonant solo organ and sustained renaissance viola d'amore lines. Davachi's restraint and attention to individual textures - the continuo, Mellotron, Korgs and tape delay - make these tracks the best songs on the album because they balance historical reference with persuasive, contemporary atmosphere. The album rewards both close listening and surrender to its ravishing atmospherics, making those two tracks essential listens for anyone seeking the best tracks on this record.
Key Points
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The Crier's Choir stands out for its solo organ centerpiece and pivotal sequencing into Trio For A Ground.
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The album's core strengths are its textural focus, historical reference balanced with restraint, and persuasive ensemble atmospherics.