Low - C’mon - KLOF Mag

C’mon is Low’s follow-up to their 2007 tensely charged Drums & Guns. It is by no stretch of the imagination a crossover from such an unpredictable band but the balance of the album offers a newly drawn line with a greater accessibility. Intentional or not, this will bring their music to a wider audience, for me, they have tapped into a new vein in their sonic explorations.

The album was recorded in a former Catholic church in Duluth, MN (aka Sacred Heart Studio). The choice was intentional, having already recorded there for their 2002 release Truth, lead man Alan Sparhawk knew the atmosphere, the emotion and the unique natural sound that the place offered, you cannot seperate place from experience.

The results are fascinating, beautiful and emotionally charged. Soulful boundaries are explored by Alan Sparhawk and wife, Mimi Parker. Their harmonies add a great translucency, underpinned by minor chords. Alan’s previous mental illness and resulting breakdown will continue to attract attention but the album is not just self reflection…there is a shared introspection that they both pull strength from. This heightened intimacy offers a mirror against which we can all compare the madness and indifference of the world we live in today. As Sparhawk says:

With the last couple of records, we were grappling with something outside of ourselves. This one feels more like, ‘Well, forget that. I’m looking in your eyes right now, and we need to figure out how to get through the next moment, together, as human beings.’

C’mon is already receiving glowing reviews and I can’t help but feel that with their past ecelctic catalogue they have a lot more still to show us in the future.