(Originally self-released in 2003)

There is a moment early each morning and at the end of each day that revels in the descending silence between the rush and flash of the sunlit hours and the swirl of dreamtide vision ushered in by the night.

Comfort, the third release by Vesper, lifts its voice from that silence. It begins and ends with lullabies that simply and sweetly invite the heart into rest (“The French Horn” and “Comfort” are subtle and perfect as such), but the album does not limit itself to this purpose. Twilight can be a time for rest, but it can as well be terrifying, tender, bittersweet–and the images that fill the tracks between the lullabies explore these moments with boldness and insight: dry chairs looking out wet windows at raging storms, morning light and tousled sheets and the longing lovers know, the awe and hush of the night sky falling . . .Vesper’s lead vocals are crushed velvet, rich and smooth but marked by a texture and character that keeps them from becoming syrupy. The album’s diverse instrumentation is sparse in texture (“Leonid Shower” and the spoken-word “Unaware of the Core” are performed a capella), to good effect. Arrangements are exquisite: piano and guitar are expectedly beautiful, and appearances by accordion, saxophone, girls’ choir and glockenspiel, among others, add variety and depth. Ben’s judicious use of drum programming in “One-Handed Love Song” and Christopher Weisman’s lyrics in “The Sensualist” both lend a quirky human rhythm that rounds out the album.

Comfort doesn’t pretend to ignore or forgot the day’s chaos, but instead offers a resting-stone on which to sit and reflect, to look back over the pilgrimage made, to celebrate the lull. When all is said and sung, however, Comfort‘s title track returns to its foundation of rest, sleepily and assuredly heralding the arrival of peace: “You will comfort the weary soul / You will carry all the waking world beyond its borders…”

Track List
1.  Aching For You
2.  The French Horn
3.  The Weather Won’t Allow
4.  One-Handed Love Song
5.  Leonoid Shower
6.  Time To Take Off
7.  Marble Hills
8.  The Sensualist
9.  Vermont Folks Song
10.  Unaware of the Shore
11.  Comfort