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::k4:
a r t i s t :: Mercury Rev
t i t l e :: The Light In You
d a t e :: 2015-00-00
l a b e l :: Bella Union
g e n r e :: Indie
s o u r c e :: CD
b i t r a t e :: 923 kbps avg
e n c o d e r :: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V
t r a c k s :: 11
p l a y t i m e :: 44:23
s i z e :: 293.3MB
tracklist
1 The Queen Of Swans 3:59
2 Amelie 3:57
3 You've Gone With So Little For So Long 3:30
4 Central Park East 6:13
5 Emotional Free Fall 4:16
6 Coming Up For Air 3:16
7 Autumn's In The Air 4:31
8 Are You Ready? 3:47
9 Sunflower 3:28
10 Moth Light 3:43
11 Rainy Day Record 3:43
releasenotes
ItÆs been seven years since Mercury Rev's last album, and even by this
long-suffering bandÆs standards, the ensuing period was tumultuous. When we
last heard from them, they seemed to be tentatively stepping away from their
Catskills-scaled orchestro-rock on 2008Æs Snowflake Midnight and its ambient
companion piece Strange Attractors. And more recently, they revisited their
avant-garde film-school roots, performing live improvized soundtracks to
screenings as the Cinematic Sound Tettix BrainWave Concerto Experiment. But
given the recent upheaval in Donahue and MackowiakÆs personal lives, The Light
on You finds Mercury Rev taking comfort in the familiar. The band spent much
of 2011Æs touring behind a deluxe reissue of DeserterÆs Songs, and, in many
respects, that campaign continues here. But on The Light In You, the
proverbial deserters throw themselves a celebratory homecoming after years in
the wilderness.
The album charts a gradual, linear journey from darkness to light, with the
first half featuring the weightiest, most affecting songs the band has
produced since 2001Æs (vastly underrated) All Is Dream. For the first time in
Mercury Rev history, bassist/producer Dave Fridmann was not involved in the
recording, but after 25 years of working with him, Donahue and Mackowiak have
a pretty firm grasp on how recreate his seismic sound. So even if the opening
"Queen of Swans" begins as typically twee Donahue ode to a mythical goddess,
its helium-huffing chorus is followed by a rupture that sounds like an
orchestra tumbling into a fault line.
While that song serves as a reintroduction to Mercury RevÆs symphonic might,
they wield it to more devastating effect on "Amelie", where mounting string
swells accompany a junkieÆs plea for forgiveness ("IÆll break the habit/ itÆs
my last score") that seems destined to go unanswered; the gorgeous, ELO-esque
sweep of "YouÆve Gone With So Little For So Long" doesnÆt gloss over the tale
of impoverished hardship couched within. And with the six-minute epic "Central
Park East", Mercury Rev provide a staggering reminder of what made DeserterÆs
Songs so captivating: They conjure a sense of intense isolation amid vast,
breathtaking vistas. ItÆs the sort of song thatÆs intimate enough to let you
see the cold breath coming from the mouth of DonahueÆs park-prowling
protagonist, while expansive enough to conjure the glow of the skyscrapers
surrounding him.
But The Light in You eventually lets go of urban tensions to revel in the
psychedelia of nature. Delivering the sundazed serenades "Coming Up for Air"
and "Autumn in the Air", Donahue sounds like someone who can get a contact
high just from watching the leaves fall. On the latter track, he sings, "I
guess this must be what itÆs like/ to be in Beatle GeorgeÆs mind," which
actually proves to be a relatively subtle namedrop compared to what follows.
In what might be the most bizarre turn in this bandÆs disjointed trajectory,
The Light in YouÆs final third sees Mercury Rev refashion themselves as the
house band on some alternate-universe Æ60s teen dance show, complete with
exuberant brass fanfares, sitar accents, and bongo-powered go-go-dancer
breakdowns. In their time, Mercury Rev have covered enough oldies-radio
standards to fill several jukeboxes, but here Donahue practically turns into a
pitchman for a Time-Life box setùon "Are You Ready," heÆs getting down to The
Rascals and The Pretty Things and episodes of Shindig! and Solid Gold; "Rainy
Day Record" awkwardly extols the life-changing virtues of listening to
misanthropic Æ80s post-punk on vinyl in the context of a cheery paisley-soul
romp. (Even if you happen to enjoy Jonathan Donahue, rap music, and The Fall,
you donÆt need to hear Jonathan Donahue rapping about The Fall.) In light of
all this band has gone through over the years, itÆs understandable that theyÆd
want to let loose, have some fun, and reconnect with the feeling of
discovering a favorite band for the first time. But as The Light in YouÆs
dichotomous halves prove, Mercury Rev are much better at being trippy than
being groovy.
www.mercuryrev.com
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Mercury_Rev-The_Light_In_You-(bella504cd)-CD-FLAC-2015-k4