Murder By Death Big Dark Love CD

For a band that has built it's formidable, nearly 15 year strong career around a meticulous consideration for the effects of pressure, release, bombast, ecstasy and highest-highs vs lowest-lows, it is something to say that BIG DARK LOVE is Murder by Death's most dynamic release to date. On their seventh full-length album and first since their 2012 Bloodshot debut BITTER DRINK, BITTER MOON, the band's signature rootsy indie rock, cinematic gothic ballads and rousing pub rock shout-alongs mix with enlivening new stylistic elements: touches of pop, synth-y electronics and psych rock that were only hinted at on previous albums. Thematically, BIG DARK LOVE reflects a different, bigger and more complex side of Murder by Death. These 10 songs circle a central theme of love, only in this case, the oft-covered topic is approached both unconventionally and diversely; the love of a parent for their child, the struggle between unconditional love and morality and loving to excess. Throughout these songs, as in life, there can sometimes be a dusky patina of despair overlaying the glints of hope. This is a palpable tension inherent in this balancing act between the melancholic and the inspirational and textures both synthetic and authentic, utilized here in a way that late 90s era Flaming Lips hadn't quite figured out yet.

1. I Shot An Arrow 2. Strange Eyes 3. Big Dark Love 4. Dream in Red 5. Solitary One 6. Send Me Home 7. Last Thing 8. Natural Pearl 9. It Will Never Die 10. Hunted