Austin-based I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness did not plan its hiatus or its reunion record. Dust, only the quintet’s second LP, arrives eight years after its 2006 debut Fear Is On Our Side, which established I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness as a formidable indie goth-rock band. Though known for heavy, brooding arrangements, time has granted the group room to breathe both in life and in music.
The repetitive nature of doom metal or slowcore still influences I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness. The rhythm section roars while guitarists Daniel Del Favero and Ernest Salaz intertwine echoing, drone-like melodies from their drop-tuned axes. However, Dust (contrary to its name) is a relatively bright album. Singer Christian Goyer opens the record with the proclamation, “When the sun comes on through, I feel the warmth on me” in “Faust.” And later, the desolate, percussion-less “You Are Dead to Me” and spacey “69th Street Bridge” alleviate any preceding musical weight. In fact, the outro solo in “Heat Hand Up” is downright uplifting with its synths and solos reaching all the high notes.
Unfortunately, Dust too easily slips into monotony. And so reveals the irony of I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness: Even for all of the light and space the band injects into its sophomore effort, Dust is best enjoyed in introspection and in darkness, so that the listener’s focus is honed and the album’s minimalistic details don’t get lost.