Angels of Light: We Are Him

Label: Young God

At the release show for Angels of Light’s previous album The Angels of Light Sing “Other People”, Michael Gira regaled the crowd with stories of walking barefoot through the broken-glass-covered floor of CBGB in his youth. “Back when I was a nihilist,” Gira quipped. Don’t let the acoustic instruments and swelling strings on We Are Him, Angels of Light’s latest album, lull you into thinking that this is the work of a man at peace with the world. At the heart of Gira’s songs is an undercurrent of struggle—emotional, physical, or ethical—that adds weight to both his accessible and most wrenching work. The word here is exacting—it’s music that could not have been made by someone who hadn’t, well, walked barefoot through broken glass. The songs here range from the almost pastoral “The Man We Left Behind” to the imposing stomp of “My Brother’s Man.” Gira’s voice cuts through it all, knife-edged and unmistakable. And in the musicians heard here—including Akron/Family and David Garland—make the ideal counterpoint for his timbres and words. (Toby)