EARTH COVERS EARTH

Emerging originally as a sleep little EP before David Tibet, in his constant process of reissuing and fiddling, cluttered it up with inessential bonus tracks to album length, Earth Covers Earth represents some of the first new directions David Tibet would grow Current 93's sound with after wiping the slate clean with Swastikas for Noddy. Whilst that album presented an extremely stark, bare, stripped-back style, Earth Covers Earth finds Tibet taking this neofolk style and beginning to add new embellishments to it again, working out a new musical vocabulary which would eventually be used to great effect on Thunder Perfect Mind. (There's even, as on that album, a song that seems to consist of David Tibet side-eying some of the dubious politics and stances of regular collaborator and Death In June mastermind Doug P.)

While pretty far removed from their first album, Current 93's Earth Covers Earth is a pretty interesting album in relation to the neofolk sound they're most known for. In some ways you can really tell that this was one of their earlier attempts at truly defining this kind of sound and approach, with some pretty rough edges here and there, but even so, I find it pretty impressive just how well-conceived so many elements of this manage to be. The elegant sense of beauty brought in by the soft, acoustic instrumentation feels perfectly balanced with this wonderfully dark atmosphere and lyricism that manages to add this special quality to the music, evoking imagery and concepts like evil lurking in an otherwise safe, comfortable environment, or of one's innocence and naivety being torn away by the harsh truths of reality. Whatever it exactly might represent with its atmosphere, what feels certain to me is that it makes for a fantastic, enthralling album.

The Dilly Song immediately establishes that this isn't just going to be your typical, pastoral folk music. The song plays out like a horribly warped nursery rhyme, having similar melodic sensibilities to one, but being put through such a thick layer of dissonance that it sounds uncomfortable and downright disorienting, almost as if the vocals are entirely detached from everything else that's happening, and it makes for such a memorable opening song. While this might be great in setting things up, it's really Hourglass for Diana that makes this such an amazing little album to me. The way it evolves and develops is a real sight to behold, starting off with a basic set of guitar chords and gradually adding more to the mix, starting off with some gorgeous violin flourishes that play off the repetitive guitar work perfectly. By the end however, you've got this intense barrage from this spiralling set of strings as a flute feels like it's almost shouting at you with its constant short , loud bursts, taken even further by the way the various repetitive elements that the song has created by this point get louder while completely falling apart, which makes for a really twisted instrumental backdrop. David Tibet's vocal delivery really sells this as well, falling into his typical approach, where it's closer to half singing and half madly reciting abstract, yet evocative poetry. In the case of Hourglass for Diana however, it gets taken a step further thanks to the fact that he sounds as if he's getting so into it that he's practically screaming, bringing forth an unexpected, yet welcome element of visceral intensity to further elevate it all.

The title track works well as a counterweight to the nature of the previous song, having a sense of fragility to it instead. While this isn't at all devoid of a darker edge, having a melancholic, maybe even mournful tone to it, it's still such a gorgeous song that so clearly demonstrates how these instruments are able to make something so scary, yet then go and make something breathtaking right after. I find that the album drops off a bit from this point onwards, not that it's actually bad or anything, but it definitely doesn't quite feel as nicely formed and composed either, revealing a bit of that roughness present in certain ideas that are explored. Rome for Douglas is a truly great track in a lot of ways, particularly with Tibet's delivery causing each word uttered to take on a very confrontational angle, as if everything he's saying is almost being spat out with pure contempt. Really my main issue with this song is the way that it ends up feeling pretty repetitive, as while I think the chorus is amazing, the amount it gets repeated without any real changes causes it to feel stagnant, even though I still think that it's pretty great and I've likely simply been spoilt by the sheer perfection of Hourglass for Diana.

The final 2 songs really don't impress me all that much unfortunately. While I love the way Time Tryeth Truth reprises the title track, it just all feels a bit hollow and boring beyond this. The way everything works here is doubtlessly pretty, but unlike anything else this album has to offer, it doesn't feel as if it's contributing to something greater, it's just pretty for the sake of it and nothing more. Hourglass for Rosy Abelisk closes things off in a very unremarkable fashion, just generally being rather boring and not feeling as if it does anything other than make me want to hear Hourglass for Diana again, not even that backing droning soundscape manages to do anything I find that appealing. Despite my complaints about the final 2 tracks, I still think that this is fantastic overall, being really intense and atmospheric, yet leaving room for beauty, with some songwriting that feels truly masterful in places. This definitely acted as a blueprint for some directions that Current 93 would take in the future, but in certain regards, elements of this would still tower above a lot of their other works, even if I'm almost exclusively referring to Hourglass for Diana.

Best tracks: Hourglass for Diana, Earth Covers Earth

Weakest tracks: Time Tryeth Truth, Hourglass for Rosy Abelisk