Run On Sentence – The Darkness, You & Me
With vocals reminiscent of The Cave Singers, but with miles more emotional and textural variety and an odd mix of musical styles, this does sound familiar from the word go, only to prove a little bit more elusive when you start really trying to pin it down.
Initially I found myself thinking ‘Ooh, that’s a nice bit of the usual gothic folk noir stuff I frequently listen to’. And it is. But the instrumentation is a lot richer than that description would probably lead you to believe – more akin to the likes of Elvis Perkins than Timber Timbre. There certainly are some of Perkins’ funeral jazz moments here and there, and only very occasionally I even find myself thinking of the likes of Rufus Wainright.
This album has a subtle knack of wrongfooting me as well – just as I expect it to get big, it doesn’t. Then, just as I am settling into a lovely, mournful number there is a crash of cymbals and a burst of brass. The mood shifts around a lot as well, from the foreboding to the reckless, meaning that despite being a little long (only forty-eight minutes though – hardly an epic) I never stop enjoying this record.
There are times when the vocal style can be a bit dramatic and up-and-down for my personal taste, but in general I like the silghtly over the top aspect to the arrangements actually. It gives the album bombast and drama, and emphasises the other-worldly quality which infuses the whole thing. If there are eccentric, sinister characters from old folk tales here, there is just a touch of flamboyance to them, which makes for an odd, compelling listen. Definitely recommended.
Run On Sentence – Lay Your Words Down
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Yoink!
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I like these. I have stolen them.
Ah I see. That’s more informative.
[...] this time for real. I reviewed this album, or at least a very close approximation of it, a few months back when Dustin Hamman first got in touch with me to invite me to have a [...]