Every Day I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came

Justin Broadrick usually records Jesu EPs and singles as a one-man bedroom project and brings out a full band, with drums provided by former Swans, Prong, and Godflesh member Ted Parsons, for his full-length collections. On Jesu’s fifth full-length, Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came, that distinction is not so strict.

Justin Broadrick's Jesu project has always walked a loose tightrope between the dense modal post-rock of bands like Pelican and Isis, and the shoegaze sound of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.

2011's Ascension showcased the guitar-led melancholia present on past Jesu staples, but it lacked the awe-inspiring sense of atmosphere that made Justin Broadrick's post-Godflesh guise such an alluring presence in the first place. He consciously addresses that record's shortcomings here, reinstating the right textures and moods whilst continuing to look forward. Length-wise, Closer to the Light strikes a newfound balance, its running time sitting comfortably between leaner previous EPs and epic, drawn out albums.

The precarious balance in Jesu, one of Justin Broadrick's many (many) projects, has always been between finding a melodious, bona fide song and the minimalist, pummelling tendencies of the drum machine and downtuned guitar.

A review of Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came by Jesu, available worldwide on September 24th from Hydra Head Records.

Justin Broadrick’s career can be seen as one long, slow comedown from the birth of punk.