The Great Destroyer by Low

The Great Destroyer, Low's seventh studio album and their first for Sub Pop, finds the Duluth, Minnesota band reaching for the volume knob that slowcore was supposed to leave alone. With Dave Fridmann producing, husband and wife Alan Sparhawk on guitar and vocals and Mimi Parker on drums and vocals, plus Zak Sally on bass, let the hushed harmonies and funereal tempos of their early records crack open into something louder, fuzzier and closer to pop rock.

The first single, "California", is a song about Sparhawk's mother, backed with a demo of "Cue the Strings", which Sparhawk has described as a nod to Roy Orbison, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and David Bowie. The album's title, like the song "Silver Rider", comes from the story told in its artwork, and a remix EP of "Monkey", Tonight the Monkeys Die, followed.

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