If you haven’t heard of Emil Amos, you’re not alone in your ignorance; His prolificacy has habitually remained underground and covert throughout his career. With over a thousand songs written and contributions to bands including Om and Grails, it’s difficult to believe that Amos is also the brains behind Holy Sons. In his new album, The Fact Facer, Amos hasn’t strayed far from the mind and genre warping sound which typically lives in his work, but he certainly has not made it trite.
The Fact Facer is a tour through a cavernous cerebration nourished by dark folk. It’s easy listening, often times evocative of early TV on the Radio and Beck’s Sea Change, but complicated in its incessant shifting. Amos’s lyrics are lethargic, juxtaposed by the intricate layers of experimental and hyper beat driven country blues, supported by a veil of breathy and echoey vocals.
“Transparent Powers” stands out as a particularly notable track. The vocals mirror Tunde Adebimpe in a way that doesn’t imitate while the song strings along in a catchy heap of rhythm blues and tactile noise. If forced to make the comparison, TV on the Radio indulges the pace of the city at night while Holy Sons pokes at the vacancy of a bleak country pasture.
Make sure to save room for the titled track, “The Fact Facer”: the song the record ends on and leaves in a quiet buzz. It’s eerily more quiet than the rest of the album and Amos is on the forefront, using plainly his voice and guitar to carry the insular track.