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Murder by Death’s new album, Big Dark Love, is a well crafted mix of sounds that urges the listener to expand their definition of modern alt rock music. This album expertly blends cello and synth into an alt rock band sound, and the product is mesmerizing. Big Dark Love is highly accessible, and coming from a band that specializes in the weird, its a welcome change of pace for fans as well as a great starting point for new listeners.
Mumford and Sons may have brought the idea of folkish alt rock to the forefront of mainstream music, but Murder by Death perfects it. Big Dark Love is alt rock at its most basic form, but is expanded by its use of cello and keyboard into the realms of folk and country. In the end the listener will find an album that is both modern sounding and eclectic.
The title track is a perfect example of this mix. It intros as a stereotypical soft alt rock track, but by the end, the listener is blasted with a mash of synth and rock. The journey between the two sounds is a subtle one, and the listener may have to repeat the track once or twice to catch the nuances that make this track truly great. This track, though it starts one way and ends another, is a perfect representation of what the band has done with this album.
Dots & Natural Pearl/em> - Single from Big, Dark Love
Towards the end of the album, Murder by Death flexes its country music side, and the inclusion is well warranted. Infusing country and western themes into the modern rockscape is something we are seeing more and more of, but Murder by Death makes it seem like its always been there. Natural Pearl will have you imagining a band playing in a Texas whiskey bar, but the track would fit just as well on a stage alongside contemporary alt rock bands.
The last track worth highlighting, though each track is great in its own right, is I Shot an Arrow, the albums intro track. While the title track may be a better example of how the band realizes so many sounds in one track, I Shot an Arrow captures something special in its four minutes. If someone needs an example of the alt rock sound I Shot an Arrow would be a fantastic example. Its a track that encompasses the feeling that one looks for in the genre, and it does so without being part of the homogenized commercial sound. Its uniquely beautiful, catchy, and truly alternative.
What this all boils down to is an alt rock band that really went to an alternative place to produce an album worth the genre tag. One might even describe them as being alternative alt rock. In truth, the appropriate genre tag for this album should be something along the line of indie-alt-country-folk-rock. Of course that abuses the hyphen pretty poorly, so instead lets just agree to call it great.
-David Navarro
