In Slavic folklore, the archetypal villain Koschei The Deathless is so-called because his “death” is a physical thing which he hides – usually inside an egg. In certain tales, the egg is stitched inside an animal’s stomach, and then the animal is sent far away, or locked up in a chest on the mythical island of Buyan, which can disappear and reappear with the tide.
The enigmatic Staraya Derevnya have their roots in Ukraine (and the wider former Soviet Union), and despite Gosha Shtasel being the one remaining founding member, their sound remains heavily inspired by Slavic culture. Their lyrics, inspired by the poetry of avant garde artist Arthur Molev, are predominantly in Russian – though some words are also part of made-up languages. On Garden window escape, they set out to course-correct what those folktales of old are truly warning us about: death is inescapable, and we must accept it and face it rather than running away or hiding.
‘Tight-lipped thief’ is a groovy jam which highlights Staraya Derevnya’s improvisational skills. Their compositions involve stitching together disparate recording sessions, built from musicians scattered around the globe and allowing happenstance to grasp the reigns. Whilst the main sound on the opening track is a manic chirping, the bassline keeps the song grounded and presents the first of many see-sawing acts of the album, the faultline between a kraut-y lock-in and psychedelic freakout is constantly being tested.
‘What I keep in my closet’ again is a song of two disparate layers. A serene drone and a finger-picked guitar motif are kept at arm’s length by a persistent rattling, a constant reminder of the anxieties which hold us back from reaching that sense of peace which seems only just beyond our reach.
Whilst word-for-word translations can only go so far (Staraya Derevnya certainly opt for vibes over specifics), the lyrics throughout the new album hint at tensions between hesitation and action, before the realisation crashes in that change is inevitable no matter what we do. The spectre of death haunts every track on Garden window escape, whether it’s acceptance (as on ‘Half deceased uncle’’s conclusion that “there’s no way around it”) or fear (which looms in ‘Cork flight operation’’s image of “the abyss of time”). The narrator of ‘Virtue of standing still’ feels confident as they remain static, staying in one place for the entirety of winter, but by the end of the song they admit that they cannot halt the onset of spring. It seems that standing still is not only a luxury but an illusion entirely. Koschei’s death can only be hidden inside an egg for so long.
