Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - Soused

Scott Walker + Sunn O)))

Soused

21 October 2014

4AD

 

4.5 stars out of 5

 

 

It just figures that one of the most intense and challenging records of the year would be the result of a collaboration between a 71-year-old singer and a band that has as many unpronounced characters in its name as pronounced ones. Scott Walker has just released his second record in two years, a feat that he hasn’t pulled off since 1974. Since then, decade-long gaps between records have been the norm, with the mere six-year gap between 2006’s The Drift and 2012’s Bish Bosch coming as close to a flourish of productivity as it gets for Walker. In the other corner is be-robed experimental metal band Sunn O))), providing the cinematic soundscape to Walker’s avant-garde utterances. And you know you’re in for a ride when Sunn can be reasonably described as the more conventional half of the collaboration.

 

The fact that Soused sound exactly what you’d expect from these two enigmatic acts is the best part of the deal. They nailed it. Walker’s uncompromising vision and seemingly effortless oddness are a perfect match for the metal drones and occasional industrial-noise-meets-show-tunes punctuations of Sunn. Soused finds both artists meshing at such a deep level that the results feel both blissfully real and dangerously explosive. Every second is worth it.

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger