Alexander Shields has talked before about how his music reflects his insular nature, it\u2019s part of the reason that A Grave With No Name live performances are rare. Instead, the haunting apparitions and lingering beauty of his work is captured in all its hibernal starkness on his lo-fi, art-rock recordings.<\/p>\n
Almost everything is pared down in his songs. His guitar is minimalist and sparse, his voice mixed low and understated; the drumming of Daniel Paton brushes across the cymbals or thoughtfully pushes the beat in angular syncopation. Less is so much more; it\u2019s all about the quietness, the melancholy and the reflective moments.<\/p>\n
But while the playing and the vocals are submerged, what Passover <\/i>has at its core is heart. Shields is writing about mortality, experienced close at hand, reconciling spirituality with life. It shimmers across the ambience of Blunt Knife, lingers unspoken in the midpoint Interlude, and gently renders its mood of wistful loss on Wren. Insular, yes, but in being laid bare it speaks with a strong purpose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alexander Shields has talked before about how his music reflects his insular nature, it\u2019s part of the reason that A Grave With No Name live performances are rare. Instead, the haunting apparitions and lingering beauty of his work is captured in all its hibernal starkness on his lo-fi, art-rock recordings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8023,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16],"tags":[],"issue":[10093],"class_list":["post-193393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album","category-reviews","issue-january-2018"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n