[Editor’s Note: Sonata Sessions are produced independent of HearNebraska.org by Nickolai Hammar, and we’re proud to premiere them. Enjoy.]

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Put Laura Weiss and Mallory Finch — a.k.a. Lars & Mal — in an impressive mansion’s ascetic sunroom and suddenly the folk project’s “Rabbit Hole” spreads itself out like a haunting morning mist. At least, that’s the case in the latest Sonata Session.

Morning sun casts latticework on the women, but the duo sits more shrouded than illuminated. All the more appropriate for the song’s dourly-optimistic subject matter. During Lars and Mal’s appearance on Hear Nebraska FM in September, Finch told us that for her, the White Lady in the song represents courting destructive habits. Eventually, barring nourishment, the White Lady may wander away, a slight hope of fresh air in a smoky forest.

The hard-surface qualities of the space make Lars & Mal’s generally tightly-woven harmonies bounce off each-other, reverberating ghastly infinite. The spare arrangement — two voices and one guitar — lays “Rabbit Hole” bare, only its essential pieces for consideration.

Lars and Mal | Rabbit Hole from Nickolai Hammar on Vimeo.

For more on Lars & Mal’s debut record, listen to our album review podcast: