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Jesu, "Opiate Sun"
In interviews leading up to this release on Mark Kozelek's (Red House Painters) label, Justin Broadrick said he had intentionally set out to make a "pop" record. Considering many of the prior Jesu EP’s (Silver, Lifeline, Why Are We Not Perfect) were already creeping into this territory, the fact this might be his most conventional release is not shocking. However, with Broadrick’s return to organic guitar sounds, the combination puts this surprisingly as close to Godflesh as any of his recent releases have been.
Caldo Verde (US)/Daymare (JP)
Broadrick has stated before that many Jesu releases are collections of songs recorded at different times that simply work well together. Given this was a specific conceptual recording, the sound is quite consistent throughout, almost to a point of same-ness. Across an entire album, this would possibly get tedious, but in this sub-30 minute format, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
From the opening swell of guitar feedback that introduces "Losing Streak," the intentionally organic sound is light years away from the electronics heavy split with Envy and the Lifeline EP, instead there’s a guitar sound that could be off any classic Godflesh record. While they had a reputation as being “metal” at times, classic tracks like "Slateman" or "Don’t Bring Me Flowers" had a notable undercurrent of pop music that is allowed to shine more here.
"Opiate Sun" and "Deflated" both follow a similar blueprint to the former, slow, intentionally repetitive structures with vocals that don’t stray into the metal realms the ones on Infinity did. All of the tracks here also put a greater emphasis on simple, yet beautifully melodic guitar solos that too often were ignored in favor of low register chugging riffs. "Morning Light" initially focuses on the monolith guitar tones, but as it winds to a close more melodic guitar work takes the focus.
A few notable consistencies exist across the four songs on this album. For one, Broadrick has chosen to incorporate harmony into his vocals, which is something he rarely did prior. Most of the tracks have double tracked vocal lines that work, giving the entire disc a more melodic, melancholy sound. Secondly, the organic sound stretches beyond just the guitar tone: few keyboard parts are to be heard, and there is live drumming (by Broadrick) on all tracks. While his drumming remains somewhat rudimentary, his former band Head of David griped he kept trying to play the first Swans album on every track (a criticism that is still relevant to this to some extent), it does keep the sound from becoming too stiff and simplistic.
As per usual, the Japanese pressing on Daymare adds an additional track, in this case a demo take on "Deflated" that does have a thinner overall sound: the guitar is less effected and has a far more jangly tone than Broadrick’s usually known for. The biggest difference is the more melodic guitar soloing that comes in midway through, which eventually gives way to some rudimentary piano playing that was probably removed to give it a more "rock" sound in the final take. Personally, I prefer this more delicate, gentle take on a track that was already rather soft.
While I’m not sure how this disc will stand the test of time, given that I return to Conqueror quite a bit, but the more pop-oriented Silver EP doesn’t get played as much, on the surface it is a rather beautiful piece of music that continues Jesu’s mission of creating the heaviest shoegaze music possible admirably.
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