Thursday, July 11, 2013

Ellery James Roberts-Kerou's Lament



WU LYF were a very special band. Appearing out of seemingly nowhere back in 2011, they crafted truly wonderful, anthemic music; huge, sweeping, and bombastic, made more powerful by their imagery and videos steeped in childhood like escapism and violent protest. Then there was the almost complete inability to properly decipher what frontman Ellery James Roberts was singing, which the band turned into a positive by allowing the listener to impose their own meaning onto the songs. In practically everyone else's hand's, this would be a forumla for cliché in its purest form, but with WU LYF it was almost magical.

Needless to say, I was partially heartbroken when the rumors of WU LYF breaking up started to swirl. A final song and Youtube message confirmed it, and it seemed the glory would fade. But now, just as suddenly as last time, Ellery James Roberts has appeared and released a new song. And I want to make this as clear as possible; "Kerou's Lament" is ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INCREDIBLE. From the moment the twinkling synths start of the track, you know it's going to build to something utterly grand. Roberts is still channeling the same passion and abstract calls to action that were heard on "Dirt" and "Heavy Pop", maybe more so from the self-immolation preparation that flickers on the song's video. The howls of "To powers of old/To powers to be/You fucked up this world/But you won't fuck with me" that echo out to close out the song, building and building on top of each other so the couplet takes on even more power then the words already have. "Kerou's Lament" is just magnificent, grand and haunting in a way few bands are these days, or want to be. It is fantastic.





Links:

Ellery James Roberts' Tumblr

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