VINYL FORMAT. Unraveling some kind of galactic wilderness, J. Tillman's sixth album lyrically borders on the mystic, proffering a transcendent union and a sense of effortlessness. Strange and honest, this song cycle inhabits its own idea-scape, seemingly obsessed with wrestling death. Tillman started recording in April, tracking most of the instruments himself. Hammered dulcimer, banjo, recorded, cymbals of varying size, and wheezing air organs all feature heavily. The string arrangements, performed by Jenna Conrad and transposed from Tillman's sung direction, were intended to rest on chords almost counter-intuitively, bringing to bloom complex, decontextualized tones. Year in the Kingdom sounds liberated, and is far and away Tillman's most joyful work. Created with little input or context, it is seemingly disinterested in communicating much else than a meditation for the few who allow themselves to listen with an open heart.