The May 23rd issue of this Texas newspaper includes a review of Love Spirals Downwards second album:
“Love Spirals Band delivers intensity” By C. J. Hart
The song starts with a cascade of acoustic guitar work as a set of string instruments pulsates in the background. A high, almost ethereal vocal line follows {in} a woman’s plaintive words.
A chorus of electric guitar jumps into the music as it builds up to a frighteningly intense climax.
You say you’ve heard this before? Possibly, but only if you’ve heard Love Spirals Downwards before.
Ardor, which is the follow-up to Love Spirals Downward’s debut, Idylls, is an album full of songs that are at once disturbing and beautiful.
Why are they disturbing? The songs have a tendency to bore into the inner recesses of the brain and cause thoughts to wander.
The pairing of vocalist Suzanne Perry and guitarist Ryan Lum blends ambient music with the vocal styles of Enya. Musically, this band is most similar to the early Cocteau Twins.
Perry has an almost innocent purity to her voice that is best exemplified in “Write in Water.” Perry’s vocals are light and airy, with a hidden power that lurks beneath the surface.
Lum picks his way carefully throughout the song as he intertwines his guitar seamlessly with the vocals. The song rolls in at the listener with wave upon wave of intensity.
Love Spirals Downwards is also capable of unleashing an ambient side, with songs like “Avincenna.”
The style of this song does not assume the customary background status of most ambient music. It actually pushes into your attention and starts the mental gears clicking.
“I Could Find It Only By Chance” features guitar with a splendid metallic ring. Lum’s guitars overlap and flow like water.
Perry, who is at [her] most melancholy in this song, repeats the same mournful phrase over and over again. The problem is, you can’t tell what she is saying.
Luckily, the music does not rely on words to make the song, and the feeling, rather than the meaning, of the words, comes through loud and clear.
Other songs on Ardor include “Depression Glass,” “Sidhe,” and “Tear Love From My Mind.”
Love Spirals Downwards is a band that deserves some recognition for its exquisitely-crafted music. The combination of beautiful instruments with even more beautiful vocals can attract a listener out of curiosity alone.
Ardor will fit flawlessly into the collections of fans of Enya, Clannad, Dead Can Dance or the Cocteau Twins
Love Spirals Downwards is a band that deserves some recognition for its
exquisitely-
crafted music. The combination of beautiful instruments with even more beautiful vocals can attract a listener out of curiosity alone.
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(NOTE: the vocals of “I Could Find It Only By Chance” are wordless, “la di, la di, da da da…”)