Sorrow Plagues is the name of the solo project of David Lovejoy, an English musician who began this adventure in 2014, publishing several ep and singles until he reached his long-distance debut last year, finally arriving at this his second full length entitled Homecoming. The sphere within which the British guy moves is an atmospheric black with a marked propensity towards shoegaze: a solution that we have already met several times but that always turns out to be pleasant and appropriate, especially if exhibited with the good talent and sensitivity that distinguish this album. The underlying melancholy that pervades the work is also perceivable from the titles of the songs that do not leave much room for imagination: David also proves to be a well-rounded musician, exhibiting a good taste from the keyboard point of view and a nice guitar touch, while as expected in the genre the voice is a bit overwhelmed by the instruments at the production level. I still think that this stylistic solution has a sense only when it comes from the slums of the musical underground, as it happens in this case, proving to be the result of a spontaneous expression, fresh and full of excellent ideas, far from the attempts to make more usable, with only the result of making it appear artificial, a sub-genre that for purposes and themes should be positioned exactly at the antipodes of any commercial temptation (any reference to the last Ghost Bath is entirely intentional). After all, David makes his own the teachings of the master Neige and develops in a competent and often exciting way the typical coordinates, thanks to airy and wide melodic openings that are soiled only by a dsbm-like scream. Homecoming is a work that shows no failures and always manages to maintain an enviable balance between the different components of the sound, finding its ideal peak in the longest and most magnificent Disillusioned and the seal with a title track that also sees the use of sax parts, to testify to the will of Lovejoy not to make too one-dimensional proposal. At the moment, our has called other musicians to be able to offer even live their music: a choice shared and often allows the owners of one man bands to further expand their horizons with obviously positive fallout also on the compositional approach, so already, however, the Sorrow Plagues prove to be one of the best expressions of today’s shoegaze combined with atmospheric black.

2017 – Independent