Low's records are frequently compared to the imagined bleakness and bitter cold of their hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. Adding fuel to that fire, their lyrics are often about tiredness and resignation--I COULD live in hope, but.... In spite of this, their debut album I COULD LIVE IN HOPE is actually very warm and enveloping, luring the listener slowly and surely into a place where profound resignation seems perfectly euphoric.

The songs "Words" and "Lazy," with their male/female harmonies, vaguely country-like riffs, and warm, shimmering guitars, sound a little like Slowdive. Mimi Parker's solo vocal turn--eerily tripled-tracked at times--on "Lullaby" peters out after a couple of minutes while the sparse music continues on for another seven minutes, slowly--ever so slowly--increasing in intensity and volume. Alan Sparhawk's vocals on "Rope"--the lyrics of which, in their entirety, are "You're gonna need more/Don't ask me to kick any chairs out from under you"--are effectively drawn over a swirling eddy of reverb. Somewhat perversely, the album ends with a version of "Sunshine"-the classic whose refrain is "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." This is a classic work of no-frills shoegazing glory.

Album Reviews
Q Magazine (9/94, p.102) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Not since Galaxie 500's `On Fire' have rippling guitars and hammock swinging dynamics seemed so beatific, this beautiful and not at any time depressing..."
New Musical Express (9/3/94, p.52) - 7 - Very Good - "...Low seduce an audience with subtle intensities of understatement, and the brooding power of restraint..."
Option (8/94, p.110) - "...Slow. Music. Like the Cowboy Junkies. On Quaaludes. And underwater..."

I Could Live in Hope on Amazon.com