Music: Dirty Three - Cinder

Artist: Dirty Three
Title: Cinder
Label: Touch & Go
Released: 2005

Review: My friend once told me that every time he listens to the Dirty Three, he feels like crying, though once he put on one of their records while making love, and felt the most beautiful happiness and warmth inside. I don't think I could describe the music of this Australian band any better. I've described them to the uninitiated as 'rock n' roll chamber music,' but from now on I think I will just tell people that the Dirty Three make music to cry and make love to.

From the first song of their new album Cinder to the last, the Dirty Three take the listener on an emotional journey of loss and discovery. The songs are shorter this time around, allowing for a story-arc that leads the album from pre-apocalyptic optimism to emblazoned emotional warfare and finally reticent reflection. If you've ever had the opportunity to see the Three in concert, you know that they can rock and have witnessed violinist Warren Ellis pull unearthly sounds out of his instrument, but Cinder just may be the first recorded proof of how noisy the Australian trio can be. With the song The Zither Player, the album begins to take us up so far until we fear we may come crashing down at any minute. Cat Power's Chan Marshall seems to be there to reassure us of our safety in the song Great Waves, but shortly after her lullaby voice washes over us, the undertow begins to pull us back down. A few songs later we are drowning in the cacophony of Doris where Jim White's drumming and Mick Turner's guitar work is so powerful it feels as if it may pierce us. And just behind all of the noise these three make, there is a regal bagpipe player weaving in between them, joining when the mood seems fit, making this song the highlight of the album.

Similar to the band's previous release, She Has No Strings Apollo, Cinder leaves the listener with a chill in the spine. The experimentation seems to be primarily in the song length on this album, and for a group that has given us so much in the way of atmospheric post-rock, this is a welcome and refreshing turn. The last track of the album, In Fall, is a plucked and bowed hopeful number that leaves us feeling that things are changing ever so slowly. When the music stops, we realize that slowly is fast enough.

Rating: 4 / 5

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