Fall of Man

Holy Sons' second offering on Thrill Jockey departs from the more hi-fi aesthetics of 2014's The Fact Facer, and returns to the murkier aspects of home recording. That said, these songs are treated with an uncharacteristic, blurry lushness that underscores rather than abstracts their melancholy and intimacy. Emil Amos played and sang everything himself on nine of these ten tracks -- his live bandmates assist on "Aged Wine," the set's lone rocker. The songs, styles, and sounds of the '70s haunt this record. They're in the slow, bluesy organ and guitar flourishes in "I Told You," the sad dreamy folk-psych of "Discipline," and the Wurlitzer-infused "Trampled Down," with its Neil Young-esque lead vocal and Beach Boys-styled backing harmonies. Fall of Man's pace is languid, its music almost narcotic with a puffy dreaminess that stands in contrast to its downer mood. ~ Thom Jurek