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This fourth full-length from Windsor For The Derby marks a further shift away from previous abstractions towards a sensuous, organic, song-structured delivery. Now functioning squarely around the central duo of Dan Matz and Jason McNeely (with Karl Bauer guesting on drums), WFTD here cast out into dark, unsettling waters that can be over-powering in their depth. With a striking, skeletal production similar to that favoured by Low and Mark Hollis, 'The Emotional Rescue LP' is centred around languid, haunting introspection featuring a spacious, hypnotic quality. On many occasions, the band hit the near-perfect middle ground between Nick Cave's restrained poignancy and Hood's enchanting atmospherics. Detailing intricate affairs of the human heart, this record either pitches such feelings to an acoustic, delicate backing or hides its gothic tendencies beneath overlapping shadows drawn by the rhythm section. Particularly effective are the former brooding variety, especially on the clouded ray of hope of Another Rescue and on the truly mesmerising opener The Same, which is based around the whisper "every other love is put to shame, it's the same as when I hear you call my name". Generally bleak and often unsettlingly so, 'The Emotional Rescue LP' is the sound of intimate thoughts acted-out in airless basement enclosures. Little wonder this group are rarely seen outside of their studio walls, once captivated, there's few other places that you'll really wish to inhabit.

Ian Fletcher
CWAS #11 - Autumn 2002

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