I don’t know about where you live, but here in San Francisco it’s raining this Friday afternoon. The dreary weather and gray skies have put me in a Tiny Vipers mood. If you don’t know already, Tiny Vipers is the musical project of Seattle-based Jesy Fortino (she appears mid-way through the linked YouTube clip talking about how growing up in Seattle has influenced her music). A self-taught guitarist who plays abstract, mysterious music on an acoustic guitar that’s lightly fingerpicked, Fortino’s songs are at once dark and beautiful, carrying with them deeply introspective lyrics that brood mirage-like in a space reserved somewhere between daydream and nightmare.

Subtly somber and restrained yearning odes abound on her latest release, Life on Earth [July, Sub Pop], her second LP and fourth release. The songs are so personal that I’m not always quite sure what she’s singing about, but that hardly matters as the songs definitely do speak to me on other gratifying levels. If you are a fan of ’60s British folk, you’ll fall instantly under her spell.

And if you like what you hear, Luckyhorse Industries has pressed 500 180g vinyl copies of Life on Earth that features handmade covers and the vinyl-only bonus track “Audrey’s Well.” There’s no mistaking that this record would sound amazing spinning from a turntable on a rainy afternoon at home spent pondering life on earth.

Here’s a clip of Tiny Vipers performing the chilling track “Dreamer” at KEXP Studios:

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