Back In Black
Gus Black
Autumn Days
(Cheap Lullaby)
On his second solo album, melancholy Brit Gus Black makes a Beck album.
Which Beck album? Well, it would be unfair to both to say Autumn Days was Sea Change, but it would be absolutely ridiculous to deny likenesses in the torn sincerity of their baritones addressing a single breakup. Black is less literal in his solitude, using the semblance of a band to prop him up, giving Autumn Days a fairly workable (read: accessible) post-Travis, pre-Coldplay gigantism airspace that’s constantly stifled by rain. While effective on “Long Beach,” “Devil Spine,” and the floating “3234 Imbecile,” the most effective track is “Certain Kind Of Light,” where the music cuts through the shit as well as Black does.
— Steve Forstneger
