speed of dark

Last weekend, I spent several hours at my favorite music store, Rhino Records, independently owned and operated since 1981. In digging through the 99 cent bin, I pulled out a CD by the UK's Soulsavers, which happened to be their second album, It's Not How You Fall, It's The Way You Land, released this year. It was in the bin because the case looked like it had been crushed under a car tire, but it was still in the plastic and the CD inside was pristine. On this, their second album, Soulsavers collaborated with Mark Lanegan, formerly of Screaming Trees, who is featured on eight of the ten tracks on this album, and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, who makes a brief appearance with Lanegan on a Neil Young cover, "Through My Sails". The album has an electronica sound with a bluesy, folky church revival feel to it. Odd and difficult to describe, it's definitely beautiful.

While I like the album quite a bit, I realized that in this case, it is less the words and more the music that draws me in. I'm not generally a big fan of instrumental songs, probably because I feel songs are lacking when a voice is absent. However, in this case, I enjoyed the few instrumentals on the album as much if not more than those with words. "Arizona Bay" builds from a quiet piano with quivering strings to a huge ball of sad strings and booming percussion. My favorite, "Ask the Dust", another track that builds into something greater than its start, sounds more than a bit like trip-hop masters Portishead. But the track below with vocals, "Jesus of Nothing" showcases Lanegan's deep, raspy voice with the combination of Soulsavers' unique sound.

soulsavers: ask the dust [buy]
soulsavers: arizona bay [buy]
soulsavers: jesus of nothing [buy]

official website | myspace

U.S. tour dates:
11/27/07: Gramercy Theatre, New York
11/28/07: North Star, Philadelphia
11/29/07: Black Cat, Washington
12/01/07: The Independent, San Francisco
12/02/07: Troubadour, Los Angeles