Lord Of The Isles & Ellen Renton – ‘Don’t You Ache’ (feat. Ellen Renton) from ‘My Noise is Nothing’

‘My Noise Is Nothing’ would likely have passed me by were it not for a friend on The Social Media noting its relationship to the Future Sound of London’s ‘Lifeforms’ and the moments in the KLF’s ‘Chill Out’ when a little bit of percussion drifts over the landscape. Those references are well judged of course, but although this record is naturally touched by those stones from the past, it is also one that inhabits a sublimely impermanent position in space and time.

Perhaps it is all at its best on the stunning ‘Don’t You Ache’. Renton is to the fore here; McDonald’s contribution a beautifully measured restraint of piano. Lyrically it is a delicious cascada of poignant imagery that scratches at wounds: “Sky hum in a sulk”; “Words gone tasteless like overdone gum”; “Every censored cut of morning” (or is it “cut of mourning”?); “The ease of war”; “That confident walk that cruelty has, like it knows it’ll never get caught”; “The devil’s advocate keeps pulling up a chair”… and… “Don’t you ache? Don’t you ache?” A cough on the corner. Feeling sorry for ourselves in our ultimate uselessness. Existential mirth of mourning. Or is it morning? Something like this. Or nothing. Reality is slippery.

There is something intriguing here about the way in which voice might change, or at least warp received meaning. So when Renton says the word ‘ache’ it sounds, in her delivery, more like a sharp poke in the ribs than a soft sob of sorrow. The pokes feel sharper the deeper we get into the piece, so that by its conclusion the phrase “don’t you ache?” is much more a poisoned dart of accusation than a gentle invitation for shared solace.

‘Don’t You Ache’ then might be a sublime highlight of ‘My Noise Is Nothing’, the loose tooth to which one cannot help but return, yet it is also true to say that its treasure is amplified by the brilliance it is surrounded by. There is nowhere on ‘My Noise Is Nothing’ where the level of engagement drifts. We are continually drawn into a space where meaning and feeling reverberate against one another, where glimpses of the tangible give way to shivers of extraordinary elegance. ‘My Noise Is Nothing’ is a record of magnificent quietude and one of the most essential releases of this, or any year.

My full review is published on Unpopular here: https://unpopular-culture.com/2023/10/16/reality-is-slippery/