A Darkness CD

After a wait only mildly eased by collaborations, compilation appearances and a super-limited 3" CD, Jasper TX is finally back with another full-length solo release, "A Darkness", a virgin release from Lidar Productions. Whereas his debut focused on light and love, this is a far more shaded affair. The bleak sounds of field recordings and low, hypnotic drones hide in the shadows amongst flourishes of guitar and piano. "Destroy Detroit (The Sign Of Buildings Never Built)" starts with the howling wind of a hundred broken tape-recorders and a looped voice which nods towards Steve Reich's sampling masterpiece "Come Out", but after four minutes a guitar emerges from the darkness, and as it plays its introverted melody the dim hue evolves into glorious neon light. The degraded sounds and dilapidated fuzz that frames this album disappear entirely for "Winter/Midnight/Suicide", where Jasper TX moulds into a more traditional post-rock band for just under five minutes of guitar-led bliss, creating a piece that even Godspeed You! Black Emperor would be proud of. The album continues as it started, mixing a solemn hiss with a blur of delicately caressed acoustic instrumentation, until you find yourself on the centrepiece and last track of the album. Over its twenty-one minute length, "Some Things Broken, Some Things Lost" encapsulates every life-affirming emotion that you could never find the words to describe. It sings a wordless song of hope and optimism, harmoniously combining sounds that are closer to sentiments than they are instruments. This is music that makes the whole world fall into place. As you sink into a comfortable chair and listen, you can't help but feel quietly ecstatic. With "A Darkness", Jasper TX is soundtracking memories that you haven't lived through and moments so pure they will leave you completely breathless for days.