Daniel O’Sullivan, the man behind Mothlite, is nothing if not varied in his musical travails. His work with Ulver is notable for its dark ambience and, often breath-taking, sonic experimentation. 'Dark Age' meanwhile is more like a pop record trying desperately to claw its way out of an experimental electronic record. There are hooks galore here but O’Sullivan seems determined to hide them as well as he possibly can.
Oddly, this approach works the majority of the time. The claustrophobic rhythms present on 'Dark Age' are often reminiscent of trip hop but carry a less sedate, more intense feel to them. There is always the slightly uneasy sense that something horrible is going to happen at any moment, much the same atmosphere that Ulver’s excellent 'Wars of the Roses' conjured last year. The middle run of tracks from 'The Blood' to 'Dreamsinter Nightspore' is particularly adept at luring the listener in with Numan-esque new wave elements before unleashing unexpected experimental aspects just when things have got really comfortable.
The best thing about 'Dark Age' however is just how listenable it is. There is no sense in pretending that this isn’t an addictive album, it just is. It’s accessible enough to be an enjoyable listen and daring enough to allow new things to be discovered upon each listen. It is clear that O’Sullivan is a master of his craft. Whilst he is clearly about far more than creating pop songs, there is no doubt that he could write a perfectly normal (and probably brilliant) synthpop record if he wanted to. Instead he prefers to shroud his compositions in atmosphere to create something that, as much as it is easy to listen to, also has a dark edge to it. Take the aforementioned 'Dreamsinter Nightspore'. From one angle it gets the listener hook, line and sinker. From another it could just as easily frighten. Such is the universe of musical contradictions in which Mothlite exists.
There are weaker tracks here if you are going to be picky, but which ones they are depend very much upon personal taste. As an overall body of work 'Dark Age' is pretty hard to criticise, or indeed to compare to other releases. There aren’t many albums that manage to fulfil the avant-garde artistic expectations of listeners and reel in the unsuspecting ears of those for whom the experimental music world is an unexplored minefield. Some will feel this album is a little lightweight, others will see its true depth and weight. All should admit however that, whatever one personally thinks about it, 'Dark Age' is a genuinely impressive album.
'Dark Age' is out on Monday 14th May via Kscope.
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Oddly, this approach works the majority of the time. The claustrophobic rhythms present on 'Dark Age' are often reminiscent of trip hop but carry a less sedate, more intense feel to them. There is always the slightly uneasy sense that something horrible is going to happen at any moment, much the same atmosphere that Ulver’s excellent 'Wars of the Roses' conjured last year. The middle run of tracks from 'The Blood' to 'Dreamsinter Nightspore' is particularly adept at luring the listener in with Numan-esque new wave elements before unleashing unexpected experimental aspects just when things have got really comfortable.
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