Well, part of the reason that "difficult" and other such unspecific adjectives keep popping up is probably because it is a rather unique affair. Heck, more than difficult to listen to, it's difficult to pinpoint in terms of trends and influences that it corresponds to, so, reviewers and listeners alike end up with little in the way of clear reference points. Mind you, I might just be saying this because of being potentially more musically ignorant than most and as such have a hard time describing it myself.
The review I've come upon with the clearest indications of actual sound and not just general mood was Pitchfork's (the shame!).
And in my words, heck...(and I'd like to make a clear warning that this might head off into more of the vague descriptions which fail to help anyone interested in any way, cough cough)... it's heavy, it's tense, it sort of feels as if it never actually gets to a point of release and... weightlessness. The whole thing strikes me as, as I listen to it for the first times, relentless, restless.
Instrumentally? Jeez. Guitars, drums, string-work, some synths (mostly for ambience and as such rather low-key, though not always). Lots of space nonetheless - the whole thing feels weighed-down for me, but it's not actually particularly full, a lot of the time. Actually, there's plenty of space in there. It's just not a particularly pleasant one, I suppose.
Hands Me Up a particular favourite so far - for being the point where the sound sort of bursts open more clearly, I suppose. That chorus feels like such a fucking gorgeously ugly lament.
(This might be slightly uninformed, as I've just made the first couple of earings, returning a lot to HMU in particular and I've yet to actually, hum, listen to the freakin' words, haha. Hope others chime in to give a better picture of the thing.) |
