#365songs (141 / 365)

I had Things We Lost in the Fire in my music library since quite a long time ago, and thought I basically understood what the "slowcore" band Low's deal was. But then, a decade or whatever later, I started seeing press for their twelfth album Double Negative that described it using words I would not have expected to apply to Low, much less a Low that was twelve albums into their career: words like "blasted" and "snarling static" and "abrasive." I had to check it out and I was glad I did because Double Negative (along with its successor HEY WHAT) is an absolutely incredible album.

I could have picked almost any of the songs or song-like objects here but "Rome (Always in the Dark)" is one of the most song-like and the most thunderously overwhelming. The repeated low riff is vaguely reminiscent of one of my recent #365songs but, as with most of Double Negative, it's blown out and distorted almost beyond recognition. But on the other hand, the vocals in "Rome" are high in the mix rather than obscured by a sea of noise (see album opener "Quorum" for how daring Low are willing to be in this regard) and so it's a nice "reward" at the end of the journey this album takes you on. That it's a penultimate song, and part of a four-song suite that flows one into the other, is just a bonus. The embed here cuts off at the beginning and end. Doesn't that entice you to want to listen to the whole album so you can hear it in context? It fucking should!!!