Steve Von Till, vocalist/guitarist for Neurosis, issued two previous solo offerings of quiet, sparse, largely acoustic material: 2000s As the Crow Flies and 2002's If I Should Fall to the Field. Six years later, and two years after Neurosis' masterpiece Given to the Rising, Steve Von Till returns to solo recording on the band's family label Neurot. Those looking for anything drastically different from his previous solo efforts won't find it. This is a brooding, darkly poetic collection of songs that carry within them a deeply idiosyncratic and, some would assert, iconoclastic feel. That said, there is considerable growth here as well. The songs are more nuanced, the disturbing American Gothic songwriting style has filled itself out, images are more subtle, and at the same time more imagistic. Von Till's singing here doesn't rely so much on the half-spoken-half-sung whispers of his earlier albums, but instead has learned to sing softly yet with more power, as if he has more faith in his voice in this setting. The other aspect that was hinted at on If I Should Fall to the Field was his willingness to utilize other textures in his tunes, a method he's all but perfected here. Von Till plays electric and acoustic guitars, strings, pedal steel, a banjo, and even Hammond B-3 and Rhodes piano on a couple of tunes. His voice is up over the instrumental mix, allowing for dynamic changes in temperament and ambience in the sound.

1		A Grave Is a Grim Horse
2		Clothes of Sand
3		The Acre
4		Willow Tree
5		Valley of the Moon
6		The Spider Song
7		Looking for Dry Land
8		Western Son
9		Brigit's Cross
10		Promises
11		Gravity

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