MEKONS 'NATURAL'

01 dark dark dark
02 dickie, chalkie and nobby
03 the old fox
04 white stone door
05 shocking curse bird
06 give me wine or money
07 diamonds
08 burning in the desert, burning
09 the hope and anchor
10 cockermouth
11 zeroes and ones
12 perfect mirror

"A few months back, speaking in his Chicago studio, Langford declared his love of classic UK folk, and revealed how much of Natural was written and composed in a room of a hired house. That might explain why so much of the album sounds like what might come of a band of survivors convening after the end of the world, setting their stories to music to be passed on to future generations. The instrumentation is largely spare, the lyrics showcasing little of the rage or sardonic humor for which the band is known. Rather, this is pretty relentlessly bleak stuff, and even the pagan poetry of "White Stone Door" is played straight: "Dance the toes right off your feet/ Making up the story as you go," sings Sally Timms. "The dancers are all dead we know/ Behind the white stone door." Pitchfork

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