Supposedly, siren songs are irresistibly sweet. Well, no less sad than sweet. Because I spend my free time poorly, I’ve always wondered what sort of song that would be, sung by beautiful bird women, living the Greek island life, luring the adventurous onto the rocky coasts of foreign lands with the gift of great music. I imagined something euphoric and heartsick — lilting pedal steel, lonely acoustic guitar, bewitching violins (hence the opening track, “Cautionary Tale,” by Muscle Shoals, Ala., alum Dylan LeBlanc). Employing my talent for directionless curiosity, I began to search further for modern versions of these winged enchanters, daughters of the dearth, and sea deities, playing songs so dark and sweet that they might cause an unhealthy lethargy (a personal goal). My vision was to gather a set of spell-casters that seemed both cerebral and sadly reflective.
I was a complete failure.
But, what I did end up finding was a collection of arty up-and-comers whose medium is chiseling ominous overtures that are magnificently strange, foreboding, and complex — misfit sculptors like Car Seat Headrest, Carter Tanton, and (yes) even Noel Gallagher (weird, right?). At their best, these siren songs provide rare moments of clarity in a world that’s increasingly drowning in uncertainty. At their worst, they can still give you a sad smile. The best part: You can listen to your heart’s content and still sail on a wiser man.
The download links are below — in both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art).
What the Darkness Does (MP3 Format)
What the Darkness Does (FLAC Format)
What is FLAC?
Pro Tips for downloading: The links above take you to a public Google drive. To make it easy, just download the zip file (it contains the entire album and artwork), or download each individual track (but you have to do one at a time).
Track Listing
1. Cautionary Tale — Dylan LeBlanc
2. Meet Me in the Woods — Lord Huron
3. Tearing Me Up — Bob Moses
4. Feels like the World — Easy Mo Bee
5. Beg for the Night — Twin Shadow
6. Skin of Our Teeth — Great Northern
7. Stone Me — Wire Train
8. Making Breakfast — Twin Peaks
9. Chains — Abigail Washburn
10. On the Hood — Matt Mays & El Torpedo
11. Murderous Joy — Carter Tanton
12. Ain’t Got a Place — James McMurtry
13. Death with Dignity — Sufjan Stevens
14. Nightclub Amnesia — Ratatat
15. Rare Form — Saintseneca
16. Something Soon — Car Seat Headrest
17. True — Nora En Pure
18. The Less I Know the Better — Tame Impala
19. The Right Stuff — Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Nemo 