Death is all around, and from under the forest litter and floorboards Wagner's dead sing songs for the ears of those who buried them, while the living ponder their own final days.
Sound like a hoot?
Not even close, and Wagner's repetitive deadpan vocal delivery and skeletal guitar accompaniment simply add to the gloom.
There will be an audience for this one-dimensional gothic folk music out there somewhere but they'd best be put on suicide watch.
• Mirel Wagner. When the Cellar Children See the Light of Day. Sub Pop.
• Two stars (out of five)
Single download: 1, 2, 3, 4
For those who like: Laura Gibson, Mirah, Chelsea Wolfe
- Jeff Harford
