Who is Jesu?
Jesu is three-piece post-metal band from Wales founded in 2003, comprised of
Diarmuid Dalton on bass,
Ted Parsons (Swans, Prong, Godflesh, Killing Joke) on drums, and led by multi-genre mastermind
Justin K. Broadrick (GOD, Godflesh, Final, Napalm Death, Pale Sketcher, Techno Animal, Greymachine, Council Estate Electronics, Scorn, Valley of Fear) on guitar/vocals/programing.
External links:
Avalanche Records,
Blog,
Twitter,
Facebook,
Bandcamp
What is "Every Day I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came?"
That is the title of their upcoming 5th full length album (their 16th non-single release overall).
Justin Broadrick will be the only primary performer on this recorded, as well as being responsible for the mixing and recording. Nicola Manzan (Bologna Violenta) appears as a guest musician, performing as small orchestra. Mastered by James Plotkin (OLD, Khanate, Phantomsmaser, Scorn, Khylst, Jodis).
Okay, well, what does Jesu sound like?
"Homesick" (off this upcoming release!)
"Friends Are Evil" (off
Jesu)
"Silver" (off
Silver EP)
"Why Are We Not Perfect?" (off
Why Are We Not Perfect? EP)
"Weightless & Horizontal" (off
Conqueror)
Okay I'm in, give me the stats
Album: Every Day I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came
Release Date: September 23rd, 2013; September 24th (US)
Genre: Post-Metal, Shoegaze
Length: TBD
Formats: Digital, CD, Vinyl (To be finalized, stay tuned.)
Label: Avalanche Recordings
Has it Leaked?: Yes
Where to get: iTunes, Bandcamp,
Amazon,
limited edition vinyl @ Hydra Head Records (To be finalized, stay tuned.)
Reviews
Jason Heller said:
There are two bands called Jesu. One is a bedroom project that mostly makes minimalist, experimental, drum-machine-backed EPs and split singles. The other is a full rock band that makes full rock albums, with drums provided by former Swans, Prong, and Godflesh member Ted Parsons. Both are led by Justin Broadrick-- co-founder of Napalm Death and Godflesh, as well as numerous side projects. What ties both versions of Jesu together is Broadrick’s wide-angle vision: a melodic yet abstracted amalgam of industrialized metal and time-lapse shoegaze. Until now it’s been pretty easy to know which Jesu you were getting, simply by noting if the release in question were an EP or an album. But on Jesu’s fifth full-length, Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came, that distinction is not so strict. Neither is Broadrick’s normally high standard.
[...]
That’s not to say Everyday I Get Closer is a bust. Even when treading water, it walks on air. The ambient lead-in to “Comforter” seeps like a ruptured cloud into atmospheric passages of oscillating noise, tectonic bass, and a collage of reverberating vocal samples. When Broadrick steps out from behind his shimmering, digitized curtain to lend his angelic deadpan to the song’s sad churn, it morphs from a lullaby to a lament. His voice is even more vulnerable on “Everyday”, where pounding rhythms-- reminiscent of Hymns-era Godflesh, Broadrick’s bridge into Jesu-- tether a gradual escalation of stratified guitar and interstellar pinging. It doesn’t come close to the orchestral sprawl of “The Great Leveller”, but it’s stronger because of its conciseness, not to mention a much-needed display of self-humanization in which Broadrick lets his lungs hang out.
6.8/10 (
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18534-jesu-everyday-i-get-closer-to-the-light/)
Ross Watson said:
To expect the looming ghost of Godflesh at this point in the game would be to misunderstand Broadrick's intentions with Jesu: this is grand, introspective music, slow-moving and soul-searching.
4/5 (
http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/records/305635-jesu_everyday_i_get_closer_the_light_from_which_i)
Jonathan Wills said:
And then before you know it, the walls are knocked down. Windows are smashed, glasses are shattered and dogs are howling all over the street. It’s as if they need to increase the richter scale for when it kicks in, and then it all calms down again. The strings make their return, although the deep riff remains, making you know the journey is far from over. You’re just in the eye of the storm, and with each passing second, you know it’s getting closer. Then it hits. Pandemonium all over again. There’s a violent thunderstorm somewhere in the world, the clouds crash and the lightning strikes. But it’s beauty at it’s finest
Not rated (
http://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/jesu-return-with-everyday-i-get-closer-to-the-light-from-which-i-came/)
Maya Kalev said:
But as Everyday progresses, the import of its title becomes clear. Where albums like Jesu and the Conqueror were relentlessly ominous and monumental, on Everyday, Broadrick pierces the dark sludge with unexpected shafts of light. Drums sit low in the mix, more rhythmic ballast than drivers of forward motion. On ‘Grey Is The Colour’ and ‘Comforter’, ethereal melodic passages counter the murky guitars, and ‘Everyday’ plods aimlessly for a while before swelling into an unusually restrained patchwork of gauzy vocals and glassy synths. The epic scale of Jesu’s music has always suited protracted songs, but Everyday clocks in at less than forty-five minutes, making for a much less challenging listen than usual. The album would be significantly more forgettable were it not for ‘The Great Leveller’, by far the longest song at seventeen minutes. Immense riffs and martial drums roar into life from a bed of strings and elegiac piano, and Broadrick piles synths and guitars into a colossal squall, which he then peels away to expose a lonely, resonant key passage.
3.5/5 (
http://www.factmag.com/2013/09/18/everyday-i-get-closer-to-the-light-from-which-i-came/)
The Ringmaster said:
The moody resonating bass croon and metronomic beats which open up Everyday immediately seduce, a deepening of that hook secured with the post punk seeded guitar sonic colouring which adds its bewitching voice soon after to the wonderfully repetitive stroll of the rhythmic inducement. It is more of a stalking really which vocals and guitar taunt and skirt with their My Bloody Valentine/Joy Division like acidic beauty. It is a masterful entrapment for the passions with every hue and flavour of bait needed to solicit the imagination and ardour.
9/10 (
http://ringmasterreviewintroduces.w...-i-get-closer-to-the-light-from-which-i-came/)
Noctus said:
Everyday I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came is a sedate yet emotional journey that I’m glad I embarked upon. Some may argue it’s rather uneventful and not that heavy, but anything harder would detract from what this album is and the mood it conveys so well. It’s one of the most well-rounded and fully realized Jesu records, it’s definitely stronger than Infinity or Ascension and well worth the listen of any fan of shoegaze or similarly melodic, melancholic music.
3.5/5 (
http://www.angrymetalguy.com/jesu-everyday-i-get-closer-to-the-light-from-which-i-came-review/)
Tracklist (tentative)
- Homesick
- Comforter
- Every Day I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came
- The Great Leveller
- Grey is the Colour
Tour dates/shows:
Jesu (Jesu doesn't exist as a touring band anymore, really, but they do play shows now and again)
Sep. 14: Tivoli De Helling (Utrecht, Netherlands) [w/ Dirk Serries (Microphonics)]
Sep. 15: De Kreun (Kortrijk, Belgium) [w/ Oathbreaker, Dirk Serries (Microphonics)]
Sep. 16:
Incubate Festival (Tilburg, Netherlands)
Sep. 28: Moscow Hall (Moscow, Russia) [w/ JK Flesh (solo project), Otzepenevshiye, and Оцепеневшие]
Sep. 30: Tavastia (Helsinki, Finland) [w/ JK Flesh (solo project)]
Godflesh
Oct. 18: Theater of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA) [W/ Prurient]
Oct. 19: Irving Plaza (New York City, NY) [W/ American Sharks]
Oct. 20: Royale (Boston, MA) [W/ Prurient]
Oct. 22: Metro (Chicago, IL) [W/ Prurient]
Oct. 24: Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room (Seattle, WA) [W/ Prurient, Nails, & House of Low Culture]
Oct. 25: Hawthorne Theatre (Portland, OR) [W/ Prurient & Nails]
Oct. 26: Oakland Metro Operahouse (Oakland, CA)
Oct. 27: Fonda Theatre (Hollywood, CA) [W/ Prurient & Nails]
Oct. 29: Mohawk (Austin, TX) [W/ Prurient]
