(2025) cross record - Crush Me [FLAC]

       cross record – Crush Me (2025)    





Review:

Befitting its title, Crush Me has a weight to it that feels overwhelming. Whether in her work as a death doula or as a musician, Emily Cross has never been averse to addressing challenging themes, but in her fourth album as Cross Record, her music sounds like it could buckle the will of even the most steadfast soul. There are hints at the album’s density and darkness in the song titles — such as “Charred Grass,” “Designed in Hell,” “Crush Me,” and “Twisted Up Fence” — and the slow, distortion-spiked music packs a real gut punch. Cross’s supple voice is as gorgeous as ever, but if you’re expecting the stately grandeur of her band Loma, you might get a shock at how heavy-going this record gets. At times, the experimental textures of the music are desolate and forbidding. After a promising opening run of songs, the floor falls out from below your feet. “Right Thing by Me” threads hesitant vocals across a sinister web of keyboard tones, and the uncomfortable intro to “Dorset Area of Natural Beauty” is basically maniacal laughter encroaching upon the stereo space. The album picks up momentum again with the magnificently doomy “Cutting A Cake,” before “God Fax” builds on a rhythm track of panicked breaths to crescendo into a cacophonous climax. Thankfully there are moments of respite amidst the gloom, such as the gentle piano of “Led Through Life,” which blooms delicately with the lyric “Golden light finds my mind.” Standout single “Charred Grass” has some lovely textural bowed bass from Devra Hoff, and a hopeful refrain of “I feel real.” During the stretches of the album when desperation is kept at bay, the music can be startlingly beautiful. At 52 minutes, the heaviness and slow pacing of Crush Me feels unforgiving, but it also comes across like a conscious artistic choice. Cross doesn’t hesitate to drag the listener through thorny, treacherous terrain, which will potentially appeal to fans of Low, Earth, and Chelsea Wolfe. — dusted





   





Track List:

01 - I Can Lie

02 - Rolling Backwards

03 - Charred Grass

04 - Right Thing By Me

05 - Dorset Area of Natural Beauty

06 - Cutting a Cake

07 - Led Through Life

08 - God Fax

09 - Pearl Through a Funnel

10 - Designed in Hell

11 - Crush Me

12 - Twisted Up Fence





Media Report:

Genre: dream-pop, lo-fi

Origin: England, UK  

Format: FLAC

Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec

Bit rate mode: Variable

Channel(s): 2 channels

Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz

Bit depth: 16 bits

Compression mode: Lossless

Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)





Note: If you like the music, support the artist.