In any artistic discipline, the influence of one’s surroundings can’t be undervalued. Think of Radiohead recording “We Suck Young Blood” while holed up in a studio overlooking the chasm of Los Angeles, or U2 crafting The Joshua Tree after experiencing the barren landscape of the American desert. A new voice always emerges in the process of getting to know unfamiliar places.
The same can be said for Cold Cave’s mastermind, Wesley Eisold. After years of touring in a flurry of different hardcore punk bands, Eisold started his Cold Cave project as a means of experimenting with the sounds of the ‘80s British New Wave scene. In his 2009 Matador debut-release, Love Comes Close, Eisold created an insular soundscape, with lo-fi production merging together with spiky guitars and his own Robert Smith-meets-Ian Curtis baritone. After 18 months of touring in support of Love Comes Close, Eisold completely changed his cast of supporting musicians, moved to New York City, and started crafting a new set of songs. The result of this period of work is his sophomore release, Cherish the Light Years, and by the sound of the album, the move to New York could not have been any more inspirational for Eisold. Without being terribly overt, Cherish the Light Years is Eisold’s love letter to his newly-adopted city. In contrast to the bare style of his debut, the new material is meticulously produced, layered to tremendous effect, and overwhelmingly confident. Fans of Cold Cave’s first record will surely be divided in their admiration for the new material, but anyone able to appreciate dynamic songwriting will be won over by the nine tightly woven songs of Cherish the Light Years.
Opening track “The Great Pan Is Dead” doesn’t strive to cushion the listener’s ear in any way; from the first second through to the last, Eisold unleashes a wall of industrial sound, squashing any sense of peace and rural nature that the mythological figure would normally bring to mind. Layers of synth, heavy drums, and guitars are stacked horizontally, eventually making way for Eisold’s expressive voice to make its initial statements. Unlike many other groups using ‘80s sounds as a foundation for their music, Eisold doesn’t just resurrect the ghosts of The Cure and Depeche Mode—he imbues these sound worlds with a very 21st century style. The production value is so clean throughout, that each layer of instrumentation can be heard independently of the sounds around it. This attention to detail rings out as one of Cherish the Light Years’ finest attributes—the counterpoint between the guitar and Eisold’s voice in the second half of “Pan” is just such a moment of clarity to behold.
In stark contrast to other bands working with the neo-Goth sound, Cold Cave’s music is surprisingly energetic and triumphant. Despite the morbid name, “Catacombs” is an incredibly exuberant and danceable track—a perfect soundtrack to the Twilight films, if only John Hughes had been the director, and Molly Ringwald the winsome Bella. The same can be said for “Underworld USA”, in which an industrial bass line ostinato [reminiscent of fellow New York synth-worshippers Bear in Heaven] provides a platform for one of Eisold’s most triumphant choruses: “I’ll carry a cross now baby/It’s a blasphemous world today/we are the tender missionaries from the Underworld USA.” Never has such a dark sentiment sounded so damn catchy.
None of this means that there aren’t some serious lapses in judgment over the course of the album. After the sheer density of “The Great Pan is Dead”, “Pacing Around the Church” falls incredibly flat, with gaps present in both the sound structure and the strength of the songwriting. One of the only tracks to sound somewhat derivative, Eisold sounds like he is re-creating a New Order track, but only by reducing it through a filter that makes the song sound like something The Killers would have created on Day & Age. The album’s other clunky track, “Alchemy and You”, infuses the guitar/synth sound that Cold Cave has seemingly perfected at this point with a pointless [and incredibly grating] ska-inflected brass section. Perhaps a Mighty Mighty Bosstones album was accidentally mixed into Eisold’s collection of New Wave? Either way, it’s a grave misstep.
More than anything, Cherish the Light Years provides a look at just what a dynamic personality Eisold has. Over the course of minutes, he is able to build intensity throughout “Burning Sage” by beginning the track with brooding, hushed vocals and atmospheric effects before moving into a bombastic synth-driven chorus in which Eisold manages to float a primal scream high above the other activity. The overall strength of the new album hinges on Eisold making a grandiose statement, and when the music is this well constructed, no one should find any fault in letting him scream away. After all, New York City has quite the track record when it comes to making people scream.
Track List:
1. The Great Pan is Dead
2. Pacing Around the Church
3. Confetti
4. Catacombs
5. Underworld USA
6. Icons of Summer
7. Alchemy and You
8. Burning Sage
9. Villains of the Moon
