{"product_id":"darkness-brings-the-wonders-home","title":"Darkness Brings the Wonders Home","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the making of their new album \u003ci\u003eDarkness Brings The Wonders Home\u003c\/i\u003e, Smoke Fairies drew inspiration from mysteries both real and imagined: sea monsters, flocks of crows taking flight in extravagant formation, strange creatures dwelling in the mud near their new South London abode. With their mesmeric vocal presence and starkly poetic lyrics, singer \/ multi-instrumentalists Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies embed all that odd magic into songs that speak to the realities of modern times - isolation, insomnia, an overall unease with the state of the world - and ultimately uncover an unlikely sense of hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProduced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Black Angels, The Shins), \u003ci\u003eDarkness Brings The Wonders Home\u003c\/i\u003e merges Smoke Fairies’ musings and meditations with a decidedly guitar-driven sound, the duo’s unearthly harmonies endlessly floating atop lead-heavy riffs. Over the course of a rigorous month-long session in Seattle, Smoke Fairies adopted a purposely intimate approach to achieving that singular sonic tone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile Smoke Fairies initially intended to return to the earthy folk of early work like 2011’s \u003ci\u003eThrough Low Light and Trees\u003c\/i\u003e, the duo soon found themselves assuming a new boldness in their guitar style and, in turn, pushing into much wilder terrain. In doing so, Blamire and Davies spent much of their time perusing the guitar shop near Ek’s chosen studio, experimenting with countless guitars and amps to augment the album’s sonic palette. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpening with \u003ci\u003eOn the Wing, Darkness Brings The Wonders Home\u003c\/i\u003e quickly proves the power of matching that pummeling guitar work with Smoke Fairies’ finespun songwriting. With its woozy intensity and spellbinding rhythms, the song also introduces one of the album’s most prominent themes: the often-futile attempts at true connection at a time when the most impetuous behavior tends to prevail. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn album deeply informed by aberrations of nature, \u003ci\u003eDarkness Brings The Wonders Home\u003c\/i\u003e delves into a different kind of fascination on \u003ci\u003eOut of the Woods\u003c\/i\u003e—a song sparked from Smoke Fairies’ study of the overgrown pond behind their house. Another song attuned to the fear of the unknown, the hypnotically ominous \u003ci\u003eChew Your Bones\u003c\/i\u003e mines inspiration from the titular beast of Sarah Perry’s novel The Essex Serpent and from a local urban myth involving a character called The Croydon Cat Killer. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite its many wanderings into otherworldly territory,\u003ci\u003e Darkness Brings The Wonders Home\u003c\/i\u003e remains rooted in real-life anxieties, particularly on tracks like the fluttering and urgent \u003ci\u003eDon’t You Want to Spiral Out of Control.\u003c\/i\u003e Throughout \u003ci\u003eDarkness Brings The Wonders Home\u003c\/i\u003e, Smoke Fairies adorn their observations with so many exquisite flourishes: the swinging melodies and elegant shredding of \u003ci\u003eElevator\u003c\/i\u003e, the girl-group harmonies and spiky riffs of \u003ci\u003eDisconnect\u003c\/i\u003e, the delicate tension between taut guitar lines and swooning vocals on \u003ci\u003eChocolate Rabbit\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor Smoke Fairies, \u003ci\u003eDarkness Brings The Wonders Home\u003c\/i\u003e signals a strengthening of the inextricable bond they’ve forged through the years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Year Seven","offers":[{"title":"CD.","offer_id":50390934782283,"sku":"1076655","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50390929637707,"sku":"1076651","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Gold | LP","offer_id":50390933504331,"sku":"1076652","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50390935798091,"sku":"1076645","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/4d71cdec-e37f-48dc-906c-c37a5d603bbd_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726396194","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/products\/darkness-brings-the-wonders-home","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}