SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LEE RANALDO – IN VIRUS TIMES

Lee Ranaldo
In Virus Times
Mute

In Virus Times. What might have seemed like a science or speculative fiction title even in Autumn of 2019 now is a reality check one two years on. Many artists have decided to record music dealing with their thoughts and emotions on the pandemic, so it is no wonder that Lee Ranaldo, one of Sonic Youth’s stalwarts, as well as solo artist and frequent collaborator with other artists in his own right, has decided to do the same, giving this four-part 22-minute piece the above title.

As Ranaldo puts it, “This recording began on an evening in September, 2020, stuck at home in lower Manhattan during the dark days of the covid-19 pandemic as we came out of a deadly summer. A heightened sense of anxiety stemming from the then-upcoming US Presidential elections as well as the virus seemed to pervade all aspects of life, for myself and everyone I knew. Its minimal quality reflects the sense of ‘motionless time’ that many of us felt.”

In Virus Times is both dark and melancholic at the same time. Ranaldo is able to channel both moods as one, making it more a piece of hope that things will get for the better, than just despair music.

A year on from him recording this excellent piece, and from this vantage point, hope will come in quite handy.

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