I don’t know quite what it was, but – despite my best efforts – I never connected with Low’s last album, Drums & Guns. A shame, because records like Things We Lost In The Fire, The Great Destroyer and (perhaps to a lesser extent), Trust had been an important part of the soundtrack to my life for the previous few years.
So it is a great relief to find that this is another Low album to be able to fall in love with. Low may be a cult act but an established enough one that each album release is still an event (see also Yo La Tengo etc..) to a not insignificant amount of people. Low’s music has been described as slowcore, sadcore…call it what you will (and only Eagleowl have ever come close to being able to capture what makes Low so special). The album opens with the gorgeous lullaby ‘Try To Sleep’ (as a new Dad that’s just so, so appropriate right now!)
It sets the tone for an album that is sad and reflective in the best possible way, without being self-indulgent or – and here’s the really clever part – being depressing.
Ten tracks long, and with hardly a duff moment, it’s classic Low, and a gorgeous listen. Long may they run.
