Things We Lost in the Fire

Today's Music of the Day is Low's Things We Lost in the Fire. This album has been in my music library for some time now, and it's something I've appreciated for months, though for some reason I am just getting around to it now.

This album is old-school, early period Low. There aren't any anthems here like "Walk Into the Sea"; no, this is more along the lines of "Trust"-era Low. The sound here is minimal and downtempo, with a general mood morose enough to probably even depress Robert Smith a little bit. It's amazing how barren the soundscape is; this album is probably akin to walking through a desert of only white sand, with only an occasional dead tree or cloud to give notice that any progress has been made at all.

It's difficult to listen to this album and not just be affected by the mood, rather than appreciating the quality of the work itself. This isn't to disparage potential listeners, just to give some background to anyone expecting the Apples in Stereo to show up halfway through the album. The whole work is solid, though I'm partial to "Sunflower" and "Closer", the latter of which is probably the crown jewel of the album. There are plenty of good songs here, though - "Dinosaur Act" and "July" are great, and "In Metal" is a nice closer to the album.

While I don't listen to this album every day, I'm certainly glad I have it somewhere. I don't know that I care for it as much as "The Great Destroyer" (which I feel balances its mood better), it's a lovely album if you can bear the emptiness.

In Other News:
Rock Climbing tomorrow! It's just climbing walls but dang if it isn't fun.

Go get your Creme Eggs now before all the Easter candy disappears!

I bought all of "Arrested Development" on DVD this week - the box sets were on sale at Target for $9.99 each. It was too much to pass up. Don't judge me.