Low - Trust

Rough Trade - 2002 - 64 minutes

A little over a year since 'Things We Lost In The Fire', Low release 'Trust'. While it is a further variation on their continuing theme of slow, sparse and starkly beautiful, this time they add more rock to the mix than ever before. There's a tension here which suggests that the band are trying to push towards a more powerful sound while, at the same time, pulling back into quietness.

Interspersing dark and light, 'Trust' occasionally struggles to hold together and some juxtapositions don't work: the rollicking 'Last Snowstorm of the Year' is followed by the funeral march of 'John Prine'. But the Minnesota trio ultimately triumph over their natural urge to remain near-silent

'(That's How you Sing) Amazing Grace' is chillingly celestial, and Low keep you wrapped up in haunting melodies and breathtaking harmonies though the drone rock of 'Canada' and the slow-building but near-apocalyptic 'I am the Lamb'. They may not be fully sure where they are going yet - but we're going to have a great time finding out...

Caroline Hennessy

Tracklisting: (That's How you Sing) Amazing Grace - Canada - Candy Girl - Diamond - Tonight - I Am The Lamb - In The Drugs - Last Snowstorm - John Prine - Little Argument With Myself - La La La Song - Point Of Disgust - Shots And Ladders