artist Eiyn Sof

‘EIYN SOF is Melissa Boraski, a stay-at-home mother of two who began the project during her kids' naptimes.

She had been a contemporary gospel singer in her teens but left the church in her early 20's and played in numerous projects in and around Toronto in the few years following that. 

In 2005, finding herself bored at home with kids, she started using her boyfriends' Juno 60 synthesizer and recorded two short albums of quirky, esoteric electronic tunes (lying somewhere in the Broadcast/Delia Derbyshire realm) under the moniker of Eiyn Sof.  

At the same time, Melissa was documenting her more straightforward, guitar-and-voice-driven countrified folk songs; she began weaving the synth soundscapes in with the folk material and quickly found that the playfulness of the former were a great fit with the contemplativeness of the latter, and what resulted is Eiyn Sof's debut full-length record, 'Bloodstreams'.

Out now on Blue Fog Recordings.

Guests: Bob Egan (ex-Wilco, ex-Freakwater, Blue Rodeo), Rick White (Eric’s Trip, Elevator to Hell, Rickwhitealbum, The Unintended), Katie Iarocci, Steve Keeping, Michelle Breslin, and Stephanie Lipinski.

Recorded at home 2005-2010. Mixed by Rick White at Elder Schoolhouse. 

From Dave Morris and Eye Magazine:

Former contemporary gospel singer, electronics aficionado and stay-at-home mom Melissa Boraski’s debut full-length (but third release overall) as Eiyn Sof defies categorization, but not because it doesn’t fit into a genre. The bittersweet acoustic ballad “Too Tall” (“I handled myself like I thought would be best / turns out I can’t handle my own goddamn business”), the autumnal shuffle of “Weight of the World,” the world-weary “Railway Trax” — from stem to stern, Bloodstreams is made of the finest country-folk. The sharp contrasts between Boraski’s fantastic tales (“Sparrow”) and noirish fatalism (“Take By Storm”), however, are harder to reconcile. With so much rich sonic detail and such drastic swings in mood,Bloodstreams is too much to take in a single sitting, but it’s hard to imagine how that could be a bad thing. The categorization that eludes Bloodstreams is whether it’s a great record or just a very good one.

(4/5 stars.)

From Benajmin Boles and Now Magazine:

Melissa Boraski, once a regular on Toronto stages, left the musical life behind to become a parent. Unfortunately, being a stay-at-home mom can drive you nuts with boredom, so she began experimenting with her boyfriend’s vintage synth during nap time, as well as toying around writing acoustic folk songs. Eventually, she realized these two pursuits had more common ground than was immediately obvious, and Eiyn Sof was born.

 The results are a mesmerizing blend of contemplative and playful, intimate and interstellar. The nods to electronic music manage to sit comfortably alongside the strumming and sweet harmonies, and never seem like an artificially forced experiment. Bloodstreams is a strikingly strong debut record that’s deceptively understated and startlingly original.

(4/5 N's)