A Gothic Love Song

Durtro 040CD, 1998, Running time: 15:23

A Gothic Love Song
  1. A Gothic Love Song - 06:04
  2. Moon: Page 209, Twenty Two Eighteen Now - 09:19

No, this disc is not David Tibet’s answer to The Sisters of Mercy; rather, it seems (at least the first song does) to be somewhat of a poke at the gothic subculture. More on that later. The packaging is an especially nice digipack, with a beautiful and somewhat art nouveau-ish cover image. Very high-quality design. There’s a rather interesting credit in the personnel listing on the inside cover: the vocals are attributed to David Bunting (which is David Tibet’s real name). All other appearances of his name in this release are as David Tibet, however. Odd. Lyrics not included.

Track one, A GOTHIC LOVE SONG, is definitely the favorite. As is usual with this band, this work is a significant departure from the sound of their previous work, though somehow at the same time it’s unmistakably c93 (yeah, I know that’s contradictory, but it’s still true). With this track from Soft Black Stars, Tibet and company explore a minimalist piano-and-vocal combination that’s subdued and sincere. Though the song begins with quiet and vaguely dissonant drones, the majority of the piece is simply Tibet’s voice and background piano. Lyrically, it strikes me as one of his more personal and straight-ahead pieces. There’s no cosmic apocalypse here, just (what I interpret as) vaguely bitter memories of either a gothic person or of the gothic culture personified. Some may disagree, but I feel that Tibet is poking a bit of fun at goths (the lyrics get a little sarcastic at times), and yet acknowledging that he’s also got a bit of a past to work through (perhaps this is why the vocal credit is to Bunting, not Tibet?). Only he knows for certain…

MOON: PAGE 209, TWENTY TWO EIGHTEEN NOW is quite different from track one. It’s a long, repetitive and fairly quick-paced drone; high-pitched, buzzy and with very little variation. The instrument sounds somewhat like distored violin or harmonium (though I’m sure it’s something much more exotic). There are no vocals. Whether you should buy this album or not pretty much depends on if you think this track will appeal to you. Since A GOTHIC LOVE SONG appears on Soft Black Stars, this EP might not be a must-own for you. Personally, I happen to like this track (though it could have been a little longer), but I know it won’t appeal to everyone.

No epilogue.