As vocalist for prog-stoner voyagers Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – now re-christened MWWB – Jessica Ball provides a sweet, blissful counterpoint to the space-timecontinuum-warping riffs the Wrexham quintet peel out. Eye is a new venture for the singer/songwriter, a collaboration with her partner Gid Goundrey that experiments with a celestial mix of dreampop, electronica and shoegaze.
It’s a smorgasbord of elements merging, with Jessica’s ethereal vocals acting as a navigation point. It’s safe to say this album wouldn’t feature in this magazine were it not for the singer’s other band, but that doesn’t mean Dark Light is devoid of ideas that may interest those of a more metallic persuasion.
There’s a dark, moody ambience to the arrangements that vividly conjures echoes of Chelsea Wolfe, Marissa Nadler and even touches of Depeche Mode. At its core, Dark Light is an album of quiet restraint, the aural equivalent of ocean waves gently lapping at the shore in low tide.
- “Sometimes his lyrics are so indistinct they may as well be wordless. Sometimes they are actually wordless”: Jonathan Hultén’s Eyes Of The Living Night is brilliant and beautiful
- "It's interesting that metalheads resonate with us.” Kalandra mix ethereal prog, Nordic folk and, er, bird songs. So why can't metal fans get enough of them?
Respair is an album highlight, its bright, shimmery guitar line contrasting with the darkened reverberating synths below. Melodies gently interweave, and reach a bittersweet climax that suggest there’s hope to be found beyond the darkness. Elsewhere, In Your Night’s droning synth gradually integrates guitars, ghostly harmonies, and delicate drum patterns leading to a funereal strum of distorted chords.
There are times, however, where Dark Light cruises where it should soar, and while subtlety is a quality that shouldn’t be underestimated, some tracks leave little to no impression at all. Dark Light creates a mood that languishes in a beautiful kind of melancholy, one that is sumptuous in its composition, if a little one-note in its delivery. But if it’s a darkened, melancholic ambience you seek to create, Eye will provide just that.
Dark Light is out today via New Heavy Sounds.
