It starts with a massing of forces: solemn, summoning drums, thunderous guitars and acquiescent violin. One guitar attempts to take control, but the others resist; rogue melodies rise up, Middle Eastern in flavour; then another emerges, feminine and reconciliatory, easing the tension. The guitars relax into discussion, community, accepting that it’s possible to pursue different paths while maintaining togetherness. But doubt creeps in, and it ends in uncertainty. If Peasantry, or ‘Light! Inside of Light!’, the opening track on Godspeed’s sixth album, reflects the desires and difficulties of collective political action, it does so by evoking something more personal: what it means for these eight musicians to persist in collaborating, and finding a shared means of expression. In its architecture, the album is typical of that expression: two (relatively short) symphonic compositions, two drones. The pleasure is in the detail: the way those drones mirror and challenge each other, the first stripping back to a crackling hum, the second building up to angry convulsions. Asunder, Sweet begins in devastation and lament, takes time to plot, then surges with a single purpose: it is resolute and defiant, much like the players themselves.
