Rothko and Second Hand Poet – We Are Not The Way We Were

Trace

Eternally keeping his unique flame alive and forever pushing the sound somewhere fresh, Rothko‘s Mark Beazley is an irregular collaborator, but always uses the opportunity to discover something unexpected. This is his first since 2016’s full length A Young Fist Curled Round A Cinder For A Wager, and here the harsh real life tales of Johny Brown are replaced by the more heartbroken vocal sound of Second Hand Poet (Jamie Tipson).

The two tracks featured on this 7″ single highlight a sense of hopelessness, particularly on the a-side “We Are Not The Way We Were”. The lyrics tell a tale of untold distance between two people, and to complement this, Mark has somehow wrung a sound from his bass that evokes a Spanish guitar playing the sweetest and simplest of melodies. Once again, it is a sound that is tailored to the voice and when the words drop away, we are treated to the kind of swooning feedback drop that does in a way evoke the Rothko of old.

The second side “To Be Not Alone” sounds deeper and the voice in parts somehow frailer, duetting with itself, but drawing closer to the edge. There seems less strength of belief here and it sounds sparser, particularly as the disembodied voice begins to drift towards the end. Once again, our heart strings are tugged and once again, Mark chooses a bass pattern that tries to embrace the lonely voice that is perhaps beyond reach.

This is the first 7″ that Rothko have released since a Too Pure single from 2002. It is a lovely format for this pairing, because each little snapshot of forlorn imagery and generous accompaniment is framed on its own, taken as one essential listen. For me, it is great to have them back on record and you should get across to the Bandcamp page before they are all gone. There are only 125, so make it snappy and hopefully there will be an excuse for something more from the pairing.

-Mr Olivetti-