The Australian instrumental trio’s first studio album in seven years is a mixed bag, capturing both harsh and chaotic tones, whilst delving with the sublime and beautiful. The two opening tracks, “Furnace Skies” and “Sometimes I Forget You’ve Gone”, introduce the album on a weak, all-too-chaotic note. Fortunately, the post-rock group begin to remedy this by the third track. From here, Toward the Low Sun goes on a journey to worlds, both sparse and textured. The magnificent concordance of violins, guitars, piano and drums is most noteworthy on the impressionistic “Moon On the Land”, “Ashen Snow” and the wonderfully reckless, “That Was Was”.
Dirty Three are at their best when exploring unpolished acoustics, the weeping tone that they have mastered over the last two decades. When it comes to experimenting with beat, pulse and rhythm, they fall short. Though, these aspects are astutely focussed on the rhythmically dynamic “Rising Below”. Regardless, Warren Ellis’ crying violin is the centrepiece of this band; the songs that adhere to that instrument hierarchy truly standout. “The Pier” and “Rain Song” are testament to this fact. The closing song, “You Greet Her Ghost”, fittingly brings the album to a union, where the jagged and the smooth meet in superb harmony.
MP3 Stream: “You Greet Her Ghost“
