Immaterial Possession
ABOUT
Conjuring a mysterious brew of folk, psychedelia, world music, and progressive rock, Immaterial Possession from Athens, Georgia makes music that takes listeners into a world all their own. Their sound is exotic without being forbidding, created within the framework of pop music while embracing a mindset that falls outside its boundaries, and generating a sense of joy even when it slips into a shadowy mood. The group introduced themselves with their self-titled debut album in 2020, and 2023’s Mercy of the Crane Folk fleshed out their ideas with greater skill and assurance.
Immaterial Possession was formed by Cooper Holmes and Madeline Polites, a pair of multidisciplinary artists originally from Atlanta. They had been part of a community of musicians, artists, and theatrical performers who had established themselves in the city’s D.I.Y. underground scene. Feeling like a change of scenery, Holmes and Polites relocated an hour east to Athens, a nearby town with a reputation as a home for free-thinking and bohemian culture. The two were eager to start a band, with Holmes on bass and vocals and Polites on guitar and vocals. Looking for like-minded collaborators, they found experienced percussionist John Spiegel and keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist (clarinet, sax, aux percussion, flute) player Kiran Fernandes (a generational descendent of the Elephant-6 scene). Dressed in fanciful costumes, with a developed performance that often included theatrics, Immaterial Possession earned a unique reputation in Athens. Alongside the live shows, their hand crafted super 8 music videos opened up a surreal visual world the band creates and inhabits. The Elephant 6-affiliated label Cloud Recordings issued their debut in 2020. The album was well-received and the British independent label Fire Records took an interest in the band, offering them a record deal. They signed with Fire, who reissued Immaterial Possession in 2022. The group soon started work on their second LP, and Mercy of the Crane Folk was issued by Fire in May 2023.
- Immaterial Possession Biography by Mark Deming – All Music
VIDEO