Music for the broken hearted; nothing can describe The Bleak Assembly's sound better. Sure, one can prescribe the banner of darkwave, but that doesn't really do the collaboration of Kimberly of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8 any sort of justice. Preceded by the single "Alibi" back in February, "Strangers Among Strangers", as a whole, has a more defined melancholic sound. Armed with a voice that haunts like Siouxsie Sioux in her prime, Kimberly delivers intensely emotional lyrics. Delving into subjects of loss, heartache, and yearning, the vulnerability she displays lends to the power of her delivery. The icy soundscapes of the instrumentals that accompany her voice carry that message and hone it to a razor's edge that cuts the listener right down to the heartstrings. The album starts off strong with the opening track, "A Night Like This", which could easily see itself being a club night anthem, and then moves into a more upbeat (yet slightly murderous) content of "Alibi". The next four tracks move into a much darker place, and ends with "Masked", which, by the time this writer was done listening, left me breathless and moved practically to tears. There is a catharsis in the melancholy; I felt heard, I felt like I was not alone, and it is truly rare to find music that has such a profound affect.
Standout Track: All of it. Every single song, truly. This is easily one of the best releases of 2023 so far.
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