smolder

A plane dips low over a smoldering ridgetop and unleashes a ribbon of fire retardant, coating the hillside a bright pink.

Reports about water pressure issues and dry hydrants splashed across the evening news that night with images of smoldering homes in the background.

“Punish,” the latest offering from the Southern Gothic alt-pop star Ethel Cain, is a smoldering slow burn, a sparse piano ballad that stretches for nearly seven minutes and gradually corrodes.

“The fire continues to creep and smolder in steep rugged terrain. Threats remain to critical infrastructure, highways and communities,” according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known as Cal Fire.

She visited the site of the house on Thursday afternoon for the first time with a shovel in her hand, sifting through the smoldering ashes looking for anything of sentimental interest.