Boduf Songs (the moniker of Mathew Sweet) blurs the lines between darkness and beauty or in Sweet’s own words illuminates: How Shadows Chase the Balance. In line with his previous work on Chicago’s ambient-experimental label, Kranky, How Shadows Chase the Balance exists in a soft haze, due in part to the nature of his lo-fi home recordings and the curious clash of British folk and gloom-centered imagery that tend to appear in the darkest of sounds, most notably metal. Sweet’s voice only furthers the haze; it’s soft, kind and revealing and is the most obvious element bridging his mysterious instrumentation and cryptic lyricism into an oblivion of comeliness.
It takes a genuine talent to turn morbid tales of the unknown, the ambiguity of zombies/cannibalism, dying stars, and absolute desolation into peaceful sonic bliss: a gift as rare as H.P. Lovecraft. “Things Not to be Done on the Sabbath” tenderly sways as Sweet utters, “We fell upon the Earth from pitch black skies. We feed upon the left behind”. On “Pitiful Shadow Engulfed in Darkness” underworld motifs fuel the shadowy depths of the albums central themes as Sweet makes his entrance by declaring, “We abide under bridges, we are sunk in the swamps, to hide in the hollows or to rest in the flood”.
How Shadows Chase the Balance is the perfect record to welcome winter while still keeping cozy: it’s a roaring fireplace and the rug atop a cold stone floor, a comforter and the frosted windows next to the bed.
Bardos Freedoom
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