Cindy Lee - Act of Tenderness (2018)

•  †  •

Haunting. Forlorn. Beautiful. Cindy Lee's musical landscape has always been all of these things, a sonic network woven from a wrenching guitar tone, a bleak synth backdrop and an atmosphere soaking heavily in its own folly, stewing in its sadness, marinating in a maddening pond of dismal thoughts and past hurts. This is what it feels like, mostly. There is always this undeniable undertone of warmth and something comforting about it all though, like any good artist or any good fatalist, it's up to the author to conjure up a feeling of hope, even if it's wishful thinking. Nobody likes a total Nihilist.

Act of Tenderness is just that, tender, but it's also everything above and everything below the heart, sitting in the gut and living in the hippocampus. You didn't even know it was there until now, as you sip from your black coffee you realize that. Look at me now, one moment I was listening to Moonknight's Ligeia feeling absolutely nothing in-particular and now only two songs in on this album I'm my most primordial and pensive self. Form your own opinion and stop caring about what other people think, anyway.

Take a listen.

Act of Tenderness

Also definitely listening to her 2017 release, Malenkost. It's grim as black metal and soft as cashmere.