Failing Lights

Failing Lights self-titled album on Intransitive Recordings marked a turning point in Noise Music's one-way street of loudness, aggression and primal chaos; a tendency that can also be detected in the recent solo and duo output by his bandmates Nate Young and John Olson (Regression, Stare Case, et al) and the latest albums by contemporaries like John Wiese and Spencer Yeh.

As Marc Masters observed in Pitchfork: "If this is a trend, pinpointing when it began is probably impossible. But for me one record could be a small but vital starting point. In 2010, Wolf Eyes & Hair Police member Mike Connelly put out his first official solo full-length as Failing Lights. It's a masterwork of dark silences and tantalizing restraint. If there's something calming the noise waters lately, Failing Lights was a first drop in that direction."

On his new vinyl-only release (his first for the Dekorder label) Connelly is further refining his intense and gloomy minimalism. Marc Masters: "The newest Failing Lights album, Dawn Undefeated, may be Connelly's best yet. With mostly guitar and electronics, he doles out sharp repetitions, distant reverberations, and straight-up noise. Together they flow into a wordless narrative....."

For maximum fidelity and volume the record is cut at 45rpm by Rashad Becker at Dubplates&Mastering but it is supposed to be playable at any speed.