Last is Low Low’s fourth and final album. When the recording sessions finished, Kelly moved to London and then onto Europe. Since the day they turned the studio lights off on their way out, the tape machines, mixing desk, amplifiers and instruments have sat gathering dust. Recording was followed by a long stretch of mixing and mastering the album over and over between day jobs. Fast forward to today, and Kelly (vocals, guitars, etc.) and Ellis (drums, guitars, studio engineering, etc.) are in the strange position of releasing an album that is now just a memory.
On Last, Kelly and Ellis purposefully set out to redress what they felt was an imbalance in the channeling of their influences. Whatever lack of confidence had forced them to tend towards recording clarity over low-fi on all of Low Low’s previous albums, this time there was no doubt from the offset - Last would be resolutely low-fi. Whereas most of the songs here were recorded on 1/2 inch tape, a suite of tracks including “Guard,” “Bedroom Window” and “A World In Ruin” were put down on C90 cassette with the optional Dolby noise reduction firmly set to OFF, bestowing these tracks with a fuzzy character, excessive tape hiss and over-compression. The brothers really began to experiment with not just what they recorded, but also how they recorded. Having built and (attempted to) soundproof a small home studio, gone were the constraints of bedroom recording.
Musically, Last is less eclectic than Low Low’s previous couple of albums, but with purpose. The constricting of the band down to two members, the fixed studio and recording on tape all helped to create a cohesive thread. Low Low don’t veer far from their habits: acoustic and electric guitars, drum kit, the occasional banjo or piano. But here, on Last, the studio is an instrument itself. On “Dandelions,” a gentle folk song is buried under the white noise and tape hiss that swallowed the closing of the previous song. On “What You Wanted Most,” a shimmering Glockenspiel riff is played through a distorted amplifier. In “Bedroom Window,” the cassette tape is overloaded with drums before a swirling crescendo of amp noise engulfs everything and just as quickly dissipates. The collection is raw and sonically ragged but nothing is lost to the cacophony.
The themes on Last reflect the happenings in Kelly’s life during recording and the finality of the sessions. The songs take us through the end of a relationship, new love, goodbyes, migration and movement. Layered on top of these themes is the realisation, during writing, that these were to be Low Low’s final songs - as on the track “A World in Ruin,” on which Kelly refers to artwork for Low Low’s second album, Ends of June, “Words hanging on telegraph wires, and a long list of failures." - a bittersweet farewell, looking back on the good and the bad that life in a band brings. It's the album's title track and closer though which offers "one last crash of all the cymbals" bringing both the album and the band their conclusion:
"I’ve got nothing left to say without sending myself off to sleep,
And it doesn’t really feel all as bad as I thought it would..."
Last is out February 16th, 2015 via Other Electricities and Audio Antihero
Iron In The Soul
Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Both thought and mind stayed alike.
Him, he was plainly invisible.
She noticed it before a trivial manifestation of gestures,
She said she saw him sadly.
In the palm of his hand,
They laughed and walked on,
They laughed and walked on,
'til sunlight broke their silence.
They're turning gradually from smile to no smile
They're turning gradually from smile to no smile
Iron in the soul is
Prolonged in the case of
A dark and empty window
He leaned his head sideways
She is naked in the
Hollow of his gaze he
Possessed her angelic
Beauty each time fortune
Brought him face to face with
Something 'bout to begin
Something about to begin
'til sunlight broke their silence
They're turning gradually from smile to no smile
They're turning gradually from smile to no smile
They're turning gradually from smile to no smile
La, la, life goes on,
La, la, la, life goes on,
Life goes on.
The lyrics of "Iron In The Soul" by Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love are full of metaphorical language and intricate imagery. The song describes the complicated relationship between two individuals who seem to be on different levels of understanding. The first verse conveys the idea that the two individuals, him and her, are in sync mentally, yet the man is invisible to her. She can sense something is wrong, as she sees him sadly holding something in his hand, while they both walk on. The lyrics suggest that she cannot see him for who he truly is, as he is invisible to her.
The second verse seems to suggest that he is captivated by her beauty, as she is naked in the "hollow of his gaze." The man wants to possess her, but at the same time, he is filled with fear and doubt. The imagery in the song is quite striking, as the lyrics suggest that this relationship is like "iron in the soul", something heavy and burdensome that cannot be removed. The chorus seems to suggest a sense of hopelessness and resignation, as the two individuals turn "gradually from smile to no smile".
Line by Line Meaning
At one and the same moment,
Simultaneously, at the exact same moment in time,
Both thought and mind stayed alike.
Both of them were thinking the same thoughts and had similar mindset.
Him, he was plainly invisible.
He was invisible in a clear and obvious way.
She noticed it before a trivial manifestation of gestures,
She realized this before there were any insignificant actions to give away his presence.
Thrown loosely about his shoulders,
His shirt or jacket was casually draped around his shoulders.
She said she saw him sadly.
She noticed that he appeared to be feeling sorrowful.
In the palm of his hand,
Something was being held in the center of his hand, possibly an object or a gesture.
They laughed and walked on,
They shared laughter and continued to walk forward.
They're turning gradually from smile to no smile
They're slowly transitioning from smiling to not smiling.
Iron in the soul is
Having a deep, unyielding resolve is comparable to having iron in one's soul.
Prolonged in the case of
The feeling of unyieldingness is especially long in situations such as
A dark and empty window
A void and empty space, like the darkness of an unlit room with a bare window.
He leaned his head sideways
He tilted his head to the side.
She is naked in the
She appears vulnerable in the
Hollow of his gaze he
Within the depths of his powerful gaze, he
Possessed her angelic
He took complete control of her innocent and pure
Beauty each time fortune
Her stunning looks captivated him each time he had the chance to see her.
Brought him face to face with
The circumstances allowed for him to come in close proximity with
Something 'bout to begin
Something new is getting ready to start.
'til sunlight broke their silence
The silence was only broken when the sun began to rise.
La, la, life goes on,
Life carries on, with or without us.
La, la, la, life goes on,
Life continues, with or without our involvement.
Life goes on.
The world never stops moving, and time always marches forward.
Contributed by Audrey R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.