OK, so this arrived in my inbox on Hallowe’en, but this seemed to be so much more than just an opportunistic video, so I’m posting it today.

Low’s Double Negative record is fantastic, and will hopefully be doing well in the end of year lists, which will be swamping anyone with even a slight interest in music any day now. ‘Always Trying To Work It Out’ is one of the best tracks on the album, and whilst the electronica approach on this new record is yet another new(ish) thing for them, the song itself is classic Low. And the video is so very good it deserves to be shared.

Directed by Phil Harder, in the words of Alan Sparhawk from the band: ‘We present our slightly Halloween-themed video for “Always Trying to Work It Out.” In which… friends and family star in a stroll through the grocery store; familiar fragments from memory appear; masks are filtering light. Thank you National Sawdust, light tech Shane Donohue, and the Food Co-op in Duluth. It’s dedicated to our city of Duluth.”

Enjoy.

Low, photo credit Shelly Mosman.

As I hinted at in my last post, I’ve been exhausted by everything going on in Edinburgh during August. But it’s time to return to some kind of normality around here…

I mentioned a few months ago that Low are about to release a new album, entitled Double Negative. Coming out once again on the legendary Sub Pop, the tracks released so far to do the rounds are a sign that the band have taken a radical step and embraced electronics. Overwhelmed by submissions over here at 17 Seconds Towers, ‘Disarray,’ taken from the album, is simply stunning. As in: one of the best tracks I have heard this year.

At first, it might even seem like radio interference, and then the vocals kick in. It’s like hearing ELO over some of the noughties finest noise acts, something that sounds so wrong it can only possibly come together. It continues to bode well for the new album, and shows that twenty-five years in, the trio from Duluth, Minnesota are continuing to challenge listeners. Bring on the album!

Low: Photo credit Shelly Mosman

Low were one of the very first bands I ever posted about here on 17 Seconds, nearly twelve years ago. They are shortly to release a new album, Double Negative, which will be released on the mighty Sub Pop, on September 14. Sure, that’s three months away, but there’s nothing like whetting your appetite, is there?

The first thing to be released in support of the album is a video Triptych of the first three tracks from the album ‘Quorum,’ ‘Dancing And Blood’ and ‘Fly.’ The electronics may through some off at first, but persevere: it all makes sense…

That album tracklisting is as follows:

1. Quorum
2. Dancing and Blood
3. Fly
4. Tempest
5. Always Up
6. Always Trying to Work It Out
7. The Son, The Sun
8. Dancing and Fire
9. Poor Sucker
10. Rome (Always in the Dark)
11. Disarray

The band will begin a world tour in the UK next week:

19 Jun – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
20 Jun – London, UK – Queen Elizabeth Hall (Robert Smith’s Meltdown Festival)
23 Jun – Duisburg, Germany – Traumzeit festival
25 Jun – Munich, Germany – Ampere
26 Jun – Dresden, Germany – Beatpol
29 Jun – Bialystok, Poland – Amphitheater of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic (Halfway Music Festival!)
20 Sep – New York, NY – National Sawdust
21 Sep – New York, NY – National Sawdust
29 Sep – Lisbon, PT – Lisboa ao Vivo
01 Oct – De Compostela Santiago, ES- Sala Capitol
02 Oct – Madrid, ES- Sala But
03 Oct – Barcelona, ES- Fabra i Coats
05 Oct – Milan, IT – Teatro Dal Verme
06 Oct – Zurich, CH- Bogen F
08 Oct – Leipzig, DE- Conne Island
09 Oct – Berlin, DE – Festsaal Kreuzberg
11 Oct – Brussels, BE – Orangerie (at Botanique)
12 Oct – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
13 Oct – Paris, FR – La Gai?te? Lyrique
15 Oct – Bristol, UK – Trinity
16 Oct – Manchester, UK – Manchester Cathedral
17 Oct – Dublin, IE – Vicar Street
02 Nov – St. Paul, MN – The Fitz
03 Nov – Davenport, IA – Daytrotter
05 Nov – Detroit, MI – El Club
06 Nov – Toronto, ON – Great Hall
08 Nov – Montreal, QC – La Sala Rosa
09 Nov – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
10 Nov – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
12 Nov – Washington, DC U Street Music Hall
13 Nov – Pittsburgh, PA – The Funhouse
14 Nov – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
16 Nov – Chicago, IL – Rockefeller Chapel
17 Nov – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon

Low -‘The Invisible Way’ (Subpop)

This year Low celebrate twenty years together as a band, and The Invisible Way is their tenth album. Recorded with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy in the producer’s chair, as you’ve almost certainly been aware of for months now, the big issue will be: how does it differ from previous Low records?

In the pre-release bumpf that has come ahead of the release, Low’s frontman Alan Sparhawk has made the three points about how he sees it differing:

– Mimi sings lead on five of the eleven songs (she usually only does one or two, despite being a fan favorite).
– Piano, lots of piano… and an acoustic guitar.
– Songs about intimacy, the drug war, the class war, plain old war war, archeology, and love.

Mind you, John Peel used to say about The Fall that they were always different and always the same. The above points are all true, but it doesn’t stop it from sounding like Low. Indeed, the only band who have come close to sounding like Low are eagleowl.

Low were sometimes described as being ‘sadcore’ and there are moments like the opening ‘Plastic Cup’ where they seem to be dwelling on the futility of existence ‘Now they make you piss into a plastic cup…the cup will probably be here long after we’re gone.’ I have no idea what this references, yet somehow it’s achingly beautiful. And there’s always a surprise element to Low as well. Just as the opening salvo of ‘Monkey’ and ‘California’ indicated that they were not making another album that sounded like Things We Lost In The Fire or Trust on The Great Destroyer back in 2005, so here the intoning of ‘Happy Birthday Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!’ on the penultimate ‘On My Own’ seems almost incongruous – yet strangely, just like Low.

Long may they be Low. And long may they surprise and delight us.

****

The Invisible Way is out now on Subpop

Low -‘So Blue.’ mp3

Low -‘Just Make It Stop.’ mp3

Well, it’s only the second week of January, and already it’s looking like being an awesome year for music.

Not only have releases from Suede and David Bowie been announced this week (just in case you’ve been under a rock), but Low are celebrating their twentieth anniversary as a band with the release of their tenth album The Invisible Way.

They have released a free mp3 of ‘Just Make It Stop’ which you can get below:

Released on March 18, the tracklisting is as follows:

Plastic Cup
Amethyst
So Blue
Holy Ghost
Waiting
Clarence White
Four Score
Just Make It Stop
Mother
On My Own
To Our Knees

The band are also touring Europe in April and May:

April
24 – Birmingham, UK – Glee Club
25 – Manchester, UK – Central Methodist Hall
26 – Gateshead, UK – The Sage Gateshead
27 – Glasgow, UK – Classic Grand
29 – Bristol, UK – Trinity
30 – London, UK – Barbican Centre

May
2 – Copehnhagen, Denmark – Loppen
3 – Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser
4 – Oslo, Norway – Bla
7 – Paris, France – La Maroquinerie
8 – Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal – Nuits Botanique
9 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Paradiso De Duif
10 – Frankfurt, Germany – Zoom
11 – Bologna, Italy – Teatro Antoniano
13 – Barcelona, Spain – Casino de la Alianca
14 – Valencia, Spain – Teatro La Rambleta
15 – Zaragoza, Spain – Teatro de las Esquina
16 – Madrid, Spain – Joy Eslava
17 – Valladolid, Spain – Lava
18 – Biarritz, France – Atabal

They also released this free EP just before Christmas, in case you missed it:

Low – C’Mon (Sub Pop)

I don’t know quite what it was, but -despite my best efforts – I never connected with Low’s last album, Drums & Guns. A shame, because records like Things We Lost In The Fire, The Great Destroyer and (perhaps to a lesser extent), Trust had been an important part of the soundtrack to my life for the previous few years.

So it is a great relief to find that this is another Low album to be able to fall in love with. Low may be a cult act but an established enough one that each album release is still an event (see also Yo La Tengo etc..) to a not insignificant amount of people. Low’s music has been described as slowcore, sadcore…call it what you will (and only eagleowl have ever come close to being able to capture what makes Low so special). The album opens with the gorgeous lullaby ‘Try To Sleep’ (as a new Dad that’s just so, so appropriate right now!) It sets the tone for an album that is sad and reflective in the best possible way, without being self-indulgent or -and here’s the really clever part – being depressing.

Ten tracks long, and with hardly a duff moment, it’s classic Low, and a gorgeous listen. Long may they run.

****

C’Mon is out now on Sub Pop.

Low -‘Try To Sleep.’ mp3