DESCRIPTION:
AT THE CLOSE OF EVERY DAY
darkness travels light

in 2013, at the close of every day made a cautious return from their sabbatical with the backward-looking monsters album. now, another year and a half up the road, there is a worthy new successor: darkness travels light.

melancholy and lightness

darkness travels light unites deep melancholy with lightness in a way only at the close of every day can lay down. again, minco eggersman’s dark, narrative lyrics perfectly go together with axel kabboord’s trademark jazzmaster loops and in their playfulness they bring hope.

thematically, darkness travels light shows just how deeply hopelessness can nest in every aspect of human life – from minco’s stressed-out period following the release of his solo album reservoirs, a period in which almost literally the lights went out for him – echoes of which resound in falling through. from probably the band’s most personal and most heartbreaking song sadness is moving away (with beautiful strings that are reminiscent of the work of david sylvian) to the reality of broken homes (joy to the world but not today). like with his solo album hamden, again minco traveled to the usa for inspiration. like before the trip ended in chicago though this time the desolate concrete residues of an old industrial center of detroit inspired him most deeply. darkness travels light was born.

yet darkness travels light is not a heavy weight from beginning till end. the frugal, rudimentary arrangements - beautifully recorded by jan borger who also recorded minco’s solo albums hamden and reservoirs - breathe wideness and acquiescence. only very rarely do the songs need a powerful starter, but even then – in the haunting oh lord hear my prayer – only almost carelessly mixed in somewhere in the background. across the board it’s the consolation that gives voice to even the deepest melancholy that makes darkness travels light a very special album.

reunion

darkness travels light also represents the reunion of minco eggersman and axel kabboord after more than six years of radio silence, in which axel primarily focused on his family and medical practice, and minco earned his pedigree as a film music composer and a solo artist.

the way in which at the close of every day returns after this period shows just how much the duo’s potential has matured. every one of the songs is moving in its simplicity, while the small typical instrumentals add a timeless dimension. it is at the close of every day’s special gift to create music without making much sound that comes to the fore on darkness travels light like nowhere in their earlier work.

hope

however black the night, eventually she will float past. in that combination of melancholy and hope, darkness travels light moves. for long-time fans a maturing of what has always been there in seed-form. for new adopters an impressive acquaintance with what has really already belonged to the best the netherlands have to offer musically for quite some time now.



at the close of every day begins with shadowlight and closes with when sadness is moving away. and perhaps, that’s the way it should be.

For more information see www.atthecloseofeveryday.com