New York City-based darkwavers Unto Ashes usher in their sixth full-length with the title track, and it’s a good one with its gently picked acoustic guitar and sweet little melody, both of which belie the artsy darkness of the lyrics. This sets the formula for The Blood of my Lady, and it’s a simple one.
Musically, this is a minor-key folk record; guitar-and-voice stuff with sparingly applied strings and percussion. It’s lyrically that Unto Ashes mastermind Michael Laird ups the gloom stakes. Mortality and Desire are predominant themes, intertwining in a headily macabre concoction that veers often into pretentiousness, but is none the worse for doing so.
Laird wears his influences on his sleeve: the cases in point an eerie transposition of Christina Rossetti’s poem ‘Who has seen the wind’ and a cover of Depeche Mode b-side ‘Fly on the Windscreen’, the latter an album highlight and a triumph of tasteful interpretation; Laird’s stripped-down arrangement brings the vocals to the fore and the mortality-preoccupied lyrics fit right in with the vibe of the self-penned material.
But it’s not about stand-out tracks; The Blood of my Lady is a concept album (‘thirteen spells conjured for the lady...’ says the press release) and plays accordingly—as a cohesive piece of art, occasional instrumentals blurring the gaps between songs, the reprise of the opening track used for the album’s coda giving the whole thing a cyclical feel. This is a solid piece of work and one worthy of finding admirers outside Unto Ashes’ usual fanbase.
