Andy Butler and friends return with a dark, powerful new LP that in comparison to previously is less dance music, more contemplation of serious issues, featuring again the distinctive countertenor of Anohni, but also percussion by Budgie of Siouxsie & The Banshees. “Come the dawn of an uncertain day,” intones Butler on opener Grace, with delicate piano and a bass line with an sense of foreboding. This sets a pattern for the album. “I’ve come to know the taste of dirt, the rejection on my tongue,” sings on Anohni on second track, One, which, with its kickdrum beat and fluttering keyboards, is among most musically upbeat. Among other standouts are You’ve Won This War, addressed a those for whom the win certainly reveals itself to be a pyrrhic victory, Christian Prayers with Anohni again and Budgie on rumbling timpanis, Dissociation with Icelandic singer Elín Ey, the disturbingly tragic Gates of Separation, which simultaneously could refer to immigrants as well as animals at the slaughterhouse, Who Will Save Us? and Poisonous Storytelling, which heavy drum pop with a quasi-religious choir chant sound that morphs into backwards twisting distortions. A dark album for dark times, and full of inventive musicianship and powerful lyrics. Out on Skint / BMG.
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