Spiritual Songs For Lovers To Sing

Hoorn’s sultry vocals; swirling, gossamer textures; and grand orchestral arrangements tirelessly interact with the record’s musculature to develop and bring to life the exquisite and anthemic anatomy of Spiritual Songs For Lovers To Sing.

Although it seems reductionist to place the album so closely with Ellery's other work, it does seem fitting. He writes in a certain style, produces in a certain style and sings in a certain style. LUH keeps everything that made his previous projects captivating and channels them into areas where they shouldn't really work. But that's why this album works.

LUH’s debut is certainly over-the-top, and purposefully so. Hoorn and Roberts strive for catharsis repeatedly and find it. They avoid the placid, disillusioned platitudes that can befall music like this, earning the catharsis they strive for.

On Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing, Roberts and Hoorn deliver a beautiful album filled with bombastic, gothic and anthemic hymns that aim for deliverance.

Every single song sounds crafted to provide a journey and an insight; that nearly every one succeeds is a triumph. Spiritual Songs may be an emotionally tiring listen, but in 2016, it's unrivaled in conviction and sonic release.

It’s a combination that is gratifyingly peculiar and, thanks to a knack for satisfying toplines, holds a significant amount of jubilant appeal.

The music matches the rhetoric, and it's an undeniable triumph. [Jun 2016, p.109]

The result is a revelatory experience that requires no legible revelations: vocals of ecstatic defiance matched to music seemingly composed of pure magnitude; melancholic synths, sparse guitars, and bombastic strings and drums. The overall feeling is of an all-hands, against-the-odds triumph against staggering forces.

Spiritual Songs is not a casual listen and can be emotionally overwhelming at times, requiring complete attention in order to fully enter the intimate world of these star-crossed lovers. Once inside, Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing is as intoxicating as falling in love for the first or last time.

LUH can write a spirited song, that’s for sure, but if you’re not ready, forget it.

There are just a few too many of these aggressive, tumultuous ballads and the result is each one loses some of its power every time another crashes into being. Moments where LUH lose their way are compensated for by the flashes of brilliance littered throughout.