Sleep Has His House

Durtro 051CD, 2000, Running time: 62:56

Sleep Has His House
  1. Love’s Young Dream - 03:02
  2. Good Morning, Great Moloch - 03:28
  3. The Magical Bird In The Magical Woods - 08:45
  4. Red Hawthorne Tree - 04:31
  5. Immortal Bird - 06:32
  6. Niemandswasser - 06:06
  7. Lullaby - 01:43
  8. Sleep Has His House - 24:08
  9. The God Of Sleep Has His House - 04:31

Before we really begin, I suppose there are a few inevitable comparisons to be made between this Current 93 release and their 1998 album Soft Black Stars, as I suspect many people will feel a certain similarity. Indeed: Both are quiet and introspective, both are somewhat minimalist in their sound, and both are clearly an intimate look at David Tibet’s personal self. However, in terms of actual music and themes, the two albums feel, to me, very different. Overall, the musical compositions in this release are lush-sounding and fairly varied in terms of instruments and melody, and the entire CD has a wonderfully warm, acoustic atmosphere. Although the overall lyrical theme of this album feels deeply personal (which is not surprising, as it is dedicated to Tibet’s late father), there is, paradoxically, a grand and epic quality to the words and imagery which makes the album not only intimate but strangely vast and otherworldly at the same time. Ultimately, this may not be the “easiest” c93 release; I feel that it requires a lot of attention to grasp the subtle tone and theme of the album. However, this adds to the appeal for me, as there are new facets and details I hear every time I listen to this CD. I suspect that most everyone who’s enjoyed Current 93’s more recent work will find a lot to love about this release as well. Printed lyrics included.

The CD opens with LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM, a slow-paced, vaguely upbeat instrumental featuring shimmering strings, drones or harmonium and a bass line somewhat reminiscent of some tracks on Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow.

GOOD MORNING, GREAT MOLOCH finds Tibet’s vocals nestled among warm harmonium melodies and silvery guitar chords, while a delicate chime or bell sounds in the background. Some shivering effect is present here too, adding a small chilly feel to the otherwise-comforting song. The lyrics on this track, like the rest of the album, are very subtle and I suspect very personal as well. Because of this personal aspect and the lack of many of Current 93’s more usual themes, this particular album (in my very subjective opinion) is possibly their most enigmatic yet. With this track and all the others, I find myself listening very carefully to the lyrics, looking for the meanings and connections behind each line.

For me, the first two pieces established the overall mood of the album, but it was really the third track, THE MAGICAL BIRD IN THE MAGICAL WOODS that brought the weight of this album’s emotional intensity to bear. Though opaque with personal reference, Tibet’s words leave a deep impression and his vocals feel massively heartfelt. The first part of this song is musically similar to the previous two tracks, but the second half is a heartbreaking sequence I would almost describe as an audio “starscape:” A quiet tinkle and echo of distorted bells, low and ponderous slow rumbles, and a sound like a Geiger-counter or otherworldly rain. I can’t listen to this section without getting chills; it feels alien and yet eerily familiar too.

With a march-like rhythm, RED HAWTHORNE TREE is simultaneously quiet and majestic, evoking a sense of both personal tragedy and epic struggle and triumph. Strong brassy tones sound as a defiant strike or a wailing dirge, depending on your interpretation. The lush harmonium and strummed guitar generate warm atmospheres, and the harpsichord-like piano at the end of the track offers up a melancholy epilogue.

While I liked IMMORTAL BIRD when I first encountered it on the Current 93/Antony and the Johnsons single, I feel that the song is all the more powerful when heard in the context of this album. In fact, one particular aspect of Current 93’s music that I really appreciate is that, in general, their albums tend to piece together as an inter-related, cohesive whole, rather than as a tangle of miscellaneous songs. For me, this usually makes each track all that much more intense and interesting, as one not only hears the song individually, but can relate it into the larger context of the overall tone and theme of the album, almost like a novel being built upon chapter by chapter. It’s something I really enjoy about this particular release, as well as most other Current 93 CDs.

The piece which stands out most for me is the sixth track, NIEMANDSWASSER. In it, Tibet is hugely expressive and eloquent, and each line is vibrant with feelings of tragedy or ascendancy. As the sound of the wind fades in towards the second half of the piece, it casts ghostly mysterious imagery, breathcatching, heartstopping. A truly powerful recording.

LULLABY is a short instrumental piece focusing on a melancholy harmonium melody.

The meditative SLEEP HAS HIS HOUSE is a long descending swirl of drones that at first seems static and stable, but upon further listening is revealed to have a lot of buried and slowly-evolving levels of sound. Most of the piece is comprised of this deep swirl of harmonium, punctuated by Tibet repeating, over and over, “have pity for the dead, sleep has his house.” As the track almost twenty-five minutes long, it’s a really contemplative sort of piece, abstract and hypnotic, almost like drifting off into sleep. At around the twenty-minute mark, Tibet suddenly moves to the foreground with a string of enigmatic lyrics, then stops as the drone gets seemingly louder and finally fades down into silence.

Finally, THE GOD OF SLEEP HAS HIS HOUSE is somewhat of a musical reprise of the previous track, although a little more subdued. Tibet offers his lyrics with a feeling of quiet resignation, or perhaps with what seems, to me, almost a sense of wry triumph. A powerful closing to a powerful album.

No epilogue.