Dormancy comes in many forms. For some it is a break from the world of stress and the constant demands one finds oneself under. For others it is a much needed respite from the grind, a time to disengage from the wheel and collect oneself for the next challenge. If The Sun Dies, Greg Weeks’ seventh release, is a signal that his respite is over. Pursuing creativity once again, Weeks finds himself in a period of explosive productivity. He has written an enormous number of songs over the past few years, enough to fuel five separate projects, including If The Sun Dies. In addition, he has rebuilt his Hexham Head Studio (still all analog, still twenty-four tracks) and resuscitated his label Language Of Stone (sans imprint status).
If The Sun Dies, which takes its title from an Oriana Fallaci novel, is every bit a Weeks album: cryptic-poetic lyrics over melancholic melodies strummed on acoustic guitar and ornamented with the analog instruments he has forever treasured (Hammond Organ, Mellotron, Mini-Moog, and effects-laden guitars). However, the album feels like a departure, a maturation in both content and approach despite its many echoes from the past.
The album’s running thread is melancholia, but lyrically the tunes couldn’t be more disparate. “If The Sun Dies” is an anthem that posits the end of things being the only means by which two people can find time to truly connect. “The Heathen Heart” speaks to one’s desire for salvation yet underscores a different, more frightening reality. The more narrative “A Narrow Star” follows a young woman’s journey into entropy, while “Tail Lights Burn The Hillside Red” explores the depression that likely drove her there. Shifting gears, “Dream You Awake” investigates the more archetypal territory of the star-crossed lovers, while “Driven” attempts, unsuccessfully, to put the genie back into the bottle. “Ridley Street,” a song about a stalker, is juxtaposed to “Rainless,” a song that believes in the transcendent power of love. While “A Million Ways To Die” and “Gone Darkside” tread quite literal territory, the album’s closer, “What It Takes” questions identity in the face of pharmaceuticals. Taken in total, the album amounts to a complete return to form.