Guitarists Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard have been making music together since high school, when they played in the post-punk band Mayfirst. A couple of decades later, the friends reunited as Elkhorn, a psychedelic folk duo inspired by the American primitive guitar stylings of the late Jack Rose. After releasing a pair of free-flowing full-band companion albums in 2019—Sun Cycle and Elk Jam, both recorded with the help of drummer (and frequent Ryley Walker collaborator) Ryan Jewell and guitarist Willie Lane—Elkhorn scale things back a bit for their sixth album, The Storm Sessions. Split between two distinct improvisations—”Electric One” and “Electric Two”—that each conveniently fill an LP side, The Storm Sessions is anchored by Sheppard’s acoustic 12-string guitar and Gardner’s electric Telecaster. Turner Williams Jr. adds electric bouzouki to “Electric One” and shahi baaja to the flip side, amping up the record’s hypnotic atmospherics. Sheppard’s 12-string provides a calming, meditative backbone for Gardner’s electric solos, which often patiently build to experimental noise peaks, particularly on “Electric One (Part C)” and “Electric Two (Part B).” The record’s two sides are each split into three parts that bleed together seamlessly, making it hard to tell where one “song” ends and another begins. But maybe that’s the point. This is music that invites you to sit back, relax and close your eyes while you vibe out to Elkhorn’s meditative moods.