Current 93 — At sunset black ships ate the sky CDS

With relatively little fuss or press, Current 93 have released their first single of new material off the forthcoming album Black ships ate the sky. Much water has passed under the bridge since the bands last full length album, the minimal and deeply personal Sleep has his house. One of the most fundamental changes being Tibet’s name change to David Michael. However the first few spins of At sunset black ships ate the sky reveal little has changed in his philosophy on music or lyrics.

It’s a wonderful two segment track constructed initially by John Contreras sweeping Cello and Michael Cashmore’s delicate acoustic guitar.
The lyrics are very much in the vein of the Hypnagogue EP release in 2003, but with a less spoken word approach. David Michael’s poetry describing his ascension to visions of black ships bringing apocalypse to the world and his conversion to his new incarnation of David Michael. Perhaps not as instantly melancholic as his previous outings but certainly bringing forth wonderful images of dark shapes moving across the sky sweeping trees and houses away.

The second part is a bit of a shock after the first part. It is what you could describe as an industrial metal anthem. Crashing distorted guitar loops and high pitched squeal distortion. David Michael cries out the things he would have missed if he has been unborn by black ships eating his past (I think that’s what he‘s talking about), burying his friends (a reference to sadly departed Jhonn Balance?), holding cats Etc. The song ends with him shrieking over and over, "Who will deliver me from myself", before the track deconstructs in a wave of feedback. This is certainly not what I expected for the new material and really does bring anticipation for the new album.