Boduf songs — How Shadows Chase The Balance

How Shadows Chase The Balance  is the third slice of distinctive, macabre and sombre folk from Southampton based  Mathew Sweet’s Boduf songs project, which through still shows him focusing squarely in on the darkness adds in more layered instrumental textures and a tuneful almost pop edge to many of the songs.

Really after enjoying his last album  06’s Lion Devours The Sun, so much I didn’t know how he could top it’s strange black and horror tinged wonder. So instead of trying to get darker he’s taken the songs down different tangent, the instantly recognisable quite tight and bassy sounding acoustic pick and strum is still in places as are his sombre almost whispered dark vocals. But there’s often a deeper ambient grain or drone texture weaved into the tracks, as well as subtle electronic textures, electric guitar and bass lines, piano and organ textures. But these new elements don’t take away from the sparse beauty but enhance it and dig in a deeper atmosphere.  Sweet also layers up and harmonising his vocals a lot more, with the chorus been often very memorable and tuneful. Yet he still keeps the lyrically content disturbing, dark and bloody.

With How Shadows Chase The Balance Sweet has manged to grow, develop and make his distinctive and dark folk craft more dramatic & approachable yet without losing any of its grim wonder and one off air. Certainly one of the albums of this year- if you haven’t tasted Boduf Songs it’s about time you do.