MOTHER

"Mother" is the second Spiral single and features a track from their debut album "The Death of Billy Jensen." This unique and dark album was mostly the work of Chris Boat while his partner Aaron Frale was busy with other projects, but Aaron came in with some late guitar work and thus it became a Spiral title. "Mother" was the final track of "Jensen" and a second, non-album track called "Bury Me Quick" is also included here.

"Mother" is about Billy's memories of his mother in their strange, twisted Jensen family existence. The track alternates a "Wall" era Floyd feel (I think) with a simple keyboard pattern and wavering vocals, sparse and spooky with a neat bass line, the bass and keys reminding me of Waters and Wright. The other "mood" of the track is darker with drums, guitar, and a grittier vocal. It finishes with a nice guitar solo over the keyboard motif. I don't believe this version is much different from the album version.

"Bury Me Quick" is no less dark, a song about secrets and plans that didn't pan out. It starts with a cool acoustic bit and quickly picks up a dreary, hopeless feel. The mood of the music is perfect for the lyrics, putting a sense of despair and emptiness into the listener. Upbeat listening this is not, but it's awesome stuff in my opinion. The pace never changes, a slow shuffle, a dark cloud covering your sun. My general opinion remains that singles are hardly essential when one has the album, but for those who love the Jensen album, you'll want this for the very cool non-album track. The artwork appears to be another work from Alvaro Sanchez-Montanes, tying the single nicely to the full album's cover art.