Jas Shaw, of Simian Mobile Disco has been mates with Alev Lenz, since he mixed her sophomore album, Two-Headed Girl, in 2016. Jas is undoubtedly the better known of the pair, but you will have heard Alev, perhaps without knowing it. Her vocal experiments with non-standard scales have featured in numerous, acclaimed Netflix productions, such as The Rain, Dark, and Black Mirror. It was her song, Fall Into Me, central to the latter’s Hated In The Nation, that gained Alev greater industry recognition. Making her an in-demand collaborator for cinematic scores, and with composers such as Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka – to the extent where Alev has produced a successful commercially available sample library. As well as her solo projects, such as conducting the choir, Roomful Of Teeth for her album, 3, Alev also works closely with Grammy nominee, Anoushka Shankar.

Lyrically, Alev & Jas’ new E.P., Bring Your Friends, imagines releasing all those bottled up COVID pandemic / lockdown anxieties, finally, relaxed in trusted, beloved company. Jas seamlessly weaves sparse, understated electronics – mutated, metallic, marimba tones and drones – within and around Alev’s multi-tracked, sometimes treated, harmonies. Much of the music has the feel of being guided through a lucid dream, and all of it has an enchanted air. Updating the air / aura of Lubos Fiser’s spellbinding soundtrack for cult Czech erotic horror, Valerie & Her Week Of Wonders. On Between Two Breaths, for example, Alev’s processed voice is used percussively to synthesise a minimalist symphony of sighs. An ethereal, echoed, wordless lullaby. While modern, abstract compositions, the pieces also seem tap into something traditional, and there are parallels with Polish performer, Resina’s sonic explorations of folklore. The results here, though, are haunting, rather than dark and scary.

Overstrung But Underdamped is a rush of ripples, where Alev is a siren whose promises remain just out of earshot. Maintaining the magical madrigal vibe. All Of The Weeds ponders the patriarchy, and plays with gender by pitching its second half way down. The beautiful, delicate Dandelion, however, is the highlight. Alev sharing shades of Sinead O’Connor’s sublime sensitivity. Jas’ buzzing, distorted keys, attempting to anchor her fragile flights.

Alev & Jas’ Bring Your Friends is out now, via Bandcamp.