Luces en la oscuridad (I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - Lights)

CXXX
"If all you really ask every time is a little fix
Suit yourself or fall a little down agitated and anxious"

LIGHTS

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness

Fear Is On Our Side

Secretely Canadian

2006

(ENGLISH AHEAD) Me quedé con ganas de mostrar más del grupo tejano I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. Especialmente porque The Owl no era mi canción preferida del disco que nos ocupa, pero sí la que mejor resumía mi estado de ánimo. Lo cierto es que el álbum entero me apasiona. ¿Cómo lo describiría? Pues en su sonido hay un espíritu Joy Division, mezclado con estructuras a lo Talk Talk menos comercial y soundscapes con reminiscencias frippianas, todo ello al más puro gothic rock y compartiendo estilo con el lado más oscuro de la New Wave de los ochenta. No es un disco fácil de digerir, pero si se toma a pequeños sorbos y se degusta en varias escuchas separadas por cierto tiempo acaba por engancharte, sobre todo cuando suena a todo volumen.

Para mí, el álbum se sostiene entre las cuatro patas que forman Lights, At Last Is All, If It Was Me y el single According To Plan. Soportando estos cuatro pilares, piezas instrumentales que dan el contrapunto a las anteriores, como el mencionado The Owl, la que da título al disco, Fear Is On Our Side, o Today, para acabar mencionando la definitiva Long Walk, con un crescendo emocionante con las guitarras en primer plano y The Ghost, desgarradora y rotunda.

Sobre la canción protagonista, señalar la magnífica estructura con una intro en la que la voz y las guitarras preparan la arrebatadora entrada de la batería y todo llega a su clímax en el estribillo al grito de "It's the last time" al que se suman un bajo y una guitarra en estado de excitación máxima. Lo mejor del disco para mi gusto. Mientras tanto, sigo esperando un segundo álbum, que ya se hace de rogar.

I was eager to show more of the Texan group I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. Especially since The Owl was not my favourite song on the album, but the one that best matched my mood. The truth is that I love the whole work. Need a description? Well, there'a a lot of Joy Division spirit mixed with Talk Talk musical patterns of their less commercial stage and soundscapes very much reminiscent of Robert Fripp's, all displayed in a true gothic rock style that also shares the features with the 80's New Wave bands' darker side. It is not of an easy first listening, but if you take small sips and taste it every now and then through longer periods of time, you'll realise how hooked you've become on it, especially when at full blast.

To me, the album is sustained by a powerful quartet of songs: Lights, At Last Is All, If It Was Me and the single According To Plan. Supporting these four pillars, there are instrumental pieces that provide a counterpoint to the above, like the aforementioned The Owl, the title track, Fear Is On Our Side, or Today, alongside Long Walk, with a thrilling crescendo of guitars in the foreground and The Ghost, heartbreaking and overwhelming.

About Lights, I must point out its magnificent structure with an introduction in which the vocals and guitars prepare the sweeping entrance to the drums and everything comes to a climax in the chorus where the poignant cry of the lead singer, "It's the last time" is added to the bass and guitar electric burst reaching a point of high excitement. My personal favourite on the album. I am still loooking forward to a second album, which is already taking too long.

Enlaces/Links:
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness' official page: chosendarkness.com
ILYBICD at Myspace