Lewsberg - In This House LP

The second album by Rotterdam-based LEWSBERG and their first US release. The quartet’s latest offering seeps into your consciousness in a different way to their debut, though their tendency towards existentialism and black humor is present throughout. Harsher in sound, but more humane in spirit, In This House refuses to let the listener settle for a single moment. The metallic, atonal guitar strum on opening song “Left Turn” leaves no room for discussion. This is Lewsberg at work. The unnerving sound of a revving car, handbrake on, suddenly coming to an abrupt and silent halt. Is the title of this opener a warning for the listener for the rest of the set, as if we’re going down Robert Frost’s “road less traveled,” or is it just a description of this lonesome character’s unexpected behaviour in this particular song? In This House is full of surprises. The teasing guitar break on “From Never to Once.” The two instrumentals “Trained Eye” and “Interlude.” The emotionally affecting ballad, “The Door.” And there’s the pairing of the last two tracks: the fatalistic “Jacob’s Ladder” and the wild, evocative “Standard Procedures”—-as if each piece works independently from the other, gazing back occasionally on what came before and, in turn, adding a different flavour to what comes next. “Cold Light of Day” and “Tbrough the Garden” are textbook Lewsberg; B songs, provocative and enchanting in their minimalism. Whilst “At Lunch” is seemingly innocent and carefree at the start, ultimately conjuring a looming sense of doubt by its conclusion.