Low - Double Negative

Low
Double Negative
2018
Spotify

Double Negative the new album from Low feels like something from another world. There is this haze that exists throughout that album that feels so strange and new. It is an expansive record with a lot to offer, new sounds you've never heard and even more new experiences to dive into. It feels like shoegaze taken to it's ultimate extreme where haze and fuzz dominate nearly everything you hear. Songs like "Tempest" at once sound sweet and delicate, but the vocals are so blown out with sound it becomes a whole other thing entirely. Much of this album sounds like it is coming out of a car with it's sub woofers not bolted down as it flies by you on the street. It is extremely loud and potent. This sheer wall of noise permeates the first few tracks and it is not until "Always Up" that the power starts to retreat a bit and s slow mellow voice glides in. What Low do extremely well here is build tension and then pay it off. You may have to sit through some meandering to get to the place you are going. The thing that makes this album special though can also drag it down at points. That same drifting sense you get on tracks can at times be overwhelming and a bit pointless. Where are we going and why are we going there are questions that Double Negative doesn't have a lot of answers too. Yet it always comes back to this immersive sound that never lets you go. Even track to track you are still seemingly overwhelmed with sound.

For an album in 2018 Low really manage to nail a sense of dread. So much of the music from this year has been focused on darker themes and narratives, like the political climate has so completely snuck into our lives that it is even dictating the mood of the music being made. There aren't many moments of celebration here, because those moments aren't reflected in the world right now. In that way Double Negative almost becomes a mirror to our current society. This is a place for really great art to begin, but it is going to be challenging to listen to. "The Son, The Sun" is this haunting track with a distant vocal slipping ever farther away, but it does so little with the time it's given. Will any of these tracks land on a playlist? Probably not, but that might be a good thing. There should be sapce for the poppiest pop and the darkest experimental. When they sing "It's not the end It's just the end of us..." with the last word trailing infinitely out into space on "Dancing and Fire" you can feel the desperation and heartbreak of a world gone awry. This album poses a lot of questions but is a little short on answers, much like us all. It is however an album to be reckoned with an an album to challenge your perception. It's pretty great.

8.3 out of 10