It is quite remarkable to see a band like Godspeed You! Black Emperor do what they did. The group has been teasing some new material recording, some sporadic touring news, and an album maybe in the future.
Yet on the debut date of their latest tour through North America, the group has, on sale, their latest album: ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!’ The weird title is aptly Godspeed. Consisting of four songs clocking in at just under an hour (no surprises there) this will be the first Godspeed album since 2002’s polarizing release of ‘Yanqui U.X.O.’
The convention of the album’s release is what is so headline-worthy. A band may often debut a new album while on tour, and exclusively to the tour, but not a group who is as respected and popular as Godspeed. It’s a bizarre move, but one that is quite admirable. This isn’t even accounting for the fact that this is their first album in a very long time, after essentially “breaking up,” though it was never boldly considered that.
It is a completely DIY aesthetic, and it seems to have the internet abuzz.
As far as the album itself, it is a mesmerizing romp through atmospheric mood-settings and climactic string arrangements. For Godspeed, it’s more of the same. Yet for a band that is mysterious in their own right, and hardly wildly prolific, more of the same is “just right.”
Be sure to check out the band on their latest tour, and pick up a copy of Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
The album is available in “other means,” but I won’t be showing you wear. The vast internet seas are waiting, if you can’t make it to the spectacular Godspeed live show yourself.
