Release: 19th July
Label: Hammock Music/Shellshock
Rarely does an opportunity occur to really consume music anymore. Without wishing to sound too middle aged about it, the “on demand” era seems to be beneficial for everything but free time. Such is the speed of modern life that little is set aside to stop, sit and just listen to a record. Yet it is albums like Chasing After Shadows, Living With Ghosts that make you want to rediscover that pastime. Such is its majesty and expansiveness that it is in fact difficult to dedicate it anything but your full attention, something that makes a refreshing and welcome change.
Within the opening moments of “The Backward Step”, Mark Byrd and Andrew Thompson’s motives become abundantly clear. Resonating and fluctuating in dramatic, apocalyptic fashion, this is more an experience than an album. Delicate yet imposing percussion supports strung out guitars, whilst the absence of vocals lends a lucid clarity to the ensemble. Passive and progressive it most certainly is not, captivating and arresting it undoubtedly is.
Although minimalist in a musical sense, each track overflows with substance and feeling. From the melancholic strings of “Tristia” to the delicate acoustic murmurings of “Dust In The Devil’s Snow”, every effort comes complete with an abundance of sincerity.
This sincerity takes a variety of forms, rather than relying on a tried and tested guise. With low rumblings and sustained chords, “How Can I Make You Remember Me” proves an altogether darker beast. Brooding in the low whisper of sustained chords, it slowly accumulates to a measured climax, before falling away in an altogether brighter manner. Put up against “In The Nothing Of A Night”, with it’s heart wrenching violins and twinkling guitar suggestions, there is a complete contrast in many ways, but a distinct similarity in others. With experimental finesse the duo have managed to not only craft an identity into each track, but also a sense of correlation and belonging.
“The World We Knew As Children” proves a superlative example of this achievement, with each glorious note glistening with familiar beauty whilst crafting a being of its own at the same time. As strummed chords give way to aching strings, there is little to do but marvel at the centre piece of an astounding effort.
Consideration to such a degree is hard to find, almost as hard as dedicating oneself completely to an album. Yet with Chasing After Shadows, Living With Ghosts, both these things come with ease. When a band offers up such an opportunity as this, it would be a waste not to fully indulge in it. Set aside fifty five minutes, and you will rediscover what it is like to truly consume an album. You will also wonder why you don’t do it more often.
Words: Dan Grose
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