| With "Same Places (Slow Version)," Belong evinces a slow-motion transformation plate tectonics, wired for sound. Aural mountains melt into seas; yet icy barrens yield to breathing jungles of detail. The single, sprawling track may evoke decay, dissolution and destruction, but underfoot are tendrils of inexplicable joy. Belong sings a lullaby of obliteration, and the paradox it embodies would make both Kevin Shields and Tony Conrad proud: crushing melancholia and shuddering euphoria, inexorably intertwined. |