After hearing that husband and wife Rachel and Xavier Watkins, the two heads behind Fuzzy Lights had descended into the Peak District, I feared some kind of tortuous Bon Iver-like release. Thankfully it seems that they have covered deeper ground, falling into pot holes, dwelling in the blackness. Helm is a ray of sunshine peeking through wire wool clouds.
I’ve got to admit that this is the first Fuzzy Lights recording I’ve heard, and it has left me in quite the tizzy. Sitting here on a sunny Sunday evening, tapping away like a flustered Woodpecker on a tea stained keyboard; normally at this time of the day I’m weeping wilder than Harvey Keitel in the original Bad Lieutenant, lamenting my woes. Today is different; I am actually overwhelmed with feelings of bliss.
‘Things We Left Behind’ with its Casio keyboard generic drum beat, and Bowie’s Low atmospherics mix with Xavier’s contemplative tone. ‘Aira’ provides thorny strings; parched throats wait for a voice that never comes. ‘Burn With Light’ soundtracks a wingspan in flight, then a feather tears away, falling into harsh bracken.
Pause for thought. What the hell am I jabbering on about?
Oh, yeah. This is moving, stirring, uplifting music. Rounded off by ‘Black Diamond’ (no, not a cover of the Kiss classic) which again sprinkles dandelion light acoustics with those sharp strings, Rachel Watkins provides a ghostly testimony from a distant hilltop somewhere miles away. The last minute of the song descends into unsympathetic rainfall.
Excuse the prattling prose. Listen to this EP.
