Low, “Ones and Sixes”

Truly, Low are at their best when awash in intrigue and inexplicability, and the mystically titled “Ones and Sixes” offers plenty of aural equivocality.
Reviews
Low, “Ones and Sixes”

Truly, Low are at their best when awash in intrigue and inexplicability, and the mystically titled “Ones and Sixes” offers plenty of aural equivocality.

Words: Ken Scrudato

September 14, 2015

2015. Low Ones and Sixes cover. high-res

Low-2015-Ones and Sixes_coverLow
Ones and Sixes
SUB POP
7/10

In the bizarre voidscapes of French Surrealist Yves Tanguy, what the viewer imagines beyond the borders is as intriguing as what’s on the canvas. Slowcore pioneers Low seem to create soundscapes in much the same way. The trio’s music is surrounded by mystery and negation and is purposely left unexplained. Indeed, opener “Gentle” is anything but, with its eerie drones, spectral vocals, and ominous stomp. And yet it seems to beckon to someplace far off. The haunted “Spanish Translation” erupts into anguished cries of “Everything always confusion” before settling into a gentle piano outro that wants to lead us somewhere beyond our immediate understanding. Truly, Low are at their best when awash in intrigue and inexplicability, and the mystically titled Ones and Sixes offers plenty of aural equivocality.