Both Lights

the cd comes in a gatefold card wallet in stunning mirror-board. au are portland, oregon-based duo luke wyland and dana valatka - 'both lights' is au's third album and first for the leaf label, a joint release with us label hometapes. 'both lights' is the closest their recorded incarnation has yet reached to the blissful force of an au live show, while expanding outward in new directions - since 2008's 'verbs' album, au have slimmed down to an extraordinarily potent two-piece live band, with valatka on percussion and wyland taking care of everything else: vocals, keyboard, sampler, lap steel, banjo and melodica (often two or more at once). wyland's rich baritone takes centre stage on both lights, a one-man tug-of-war with love, loss, pain, anger and desire, while the music behind him flits with gleeful abandon between styles - choral folk, ferocious jazz-punk, wild percussive workouts, sumptuous indie-pop. au contributed a track to the 'tradi-mods vs rockers' collaboration in 2010, which featured versions of tracks by konono no.1 and kasai allstars. the congolese bands' influence is strongly evident on 'both lights'. powerhouse saxophonist colin stetson makes two appearances on the record, including first single 'solid gold'.