Current 93 - The Inmost Light

A most apocalyptic triptych

This lavish set collects two minialbums, Where The Long Shadows Fall and The Stars Are Marching Sadly Home, together with Current 93’s mother release, All The Pretty Little Horses. Originally issued as separate discs in 1995/96, the thematic threads worming their way throughout (childhood’s bittersweet memories, the inevitable apocalypse, the works of author Thomas Ligotti and painter Louis Wain) form a portal through which to glimpse the world envisioned by Current 93’s David Tibet. At its centre lies a song cycle musing on the erosion of youth’s lost innocence.

Michael Cashmore’s beautiful finger-picking roots the music firmly within the folk tradition, allowing Tibet and his coconspirators (members of Nurse With Wound and Coil appear here, as does Nick Cave, making a brief cameo) to sculpt a set of surreal, yet intensely emotional modern lullabies. Such is their craft that even a hymnal about a fictional feline (Tommy Katkins) will have you blubbing. The two shorter pieces are more abstract, with creaking timbers and howling winds enveloping Tibet’s hushed voice. Shirley Collins emerges from exile to close proceedings with a chilling reading of All The Pretty Horses’ title track. In a body of work with many peaks, The Inmost Light endures as Current 93’s pinnacle.

Durtro Jnana | DJ 033 D (3-CD)

Reviewed by Spencer Grady
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