Dark Matter - Premium for Home & Office Use

Well, on what is widely reported or expected to be their final album, The Stranglers dig deep and strike somber chords. If indeed, this is the final studio album by one of Britain's finest exports, then The Stranglers are exiting on an exceptional "high note". In fact, the last 4 albums (Norfolk Coast, Suite XVI, Giants and now Dark Matters) are every bit as strong as the first 4 (The Stranglers, No More Heroes, Black & White, The Raven). "Dark Matters" adeptly extracts all of the best and familiar sounds that have made this band so intriguing and so great over the years yet at the same time, it sounds youthfully inspired and at times, ethereal. Similar to, say, Blue Oyster Cult, The Stranglers exude a mystique about them, an aura that cannot quite be pinpointed or explained but it is definitely there nonetheless. A specific genre doesn't contain them and the music simply defies dutifully assigned labels. The tragic death of Dave Greenfield (keyboards) likely facilitated the serious, reflective, and somber tone of this album and I genuinely appreciate the classy manner in which Dave is honored on & by the album. He clearly mattered...on a deeply personal and musical level for his bandmates. At times, and I believed this to be true back in the late 70s when the debut appeared, shades of The Doors abound as Greenfield's mastery of the keyboards certainly channels some of the wizardry of Ray Manzarek but above all, the thundering bass lines of JJB are once again, on full display. Dark Matters is a seriously satisfying release and I love the fiendish, deliciously diabolical hints and innuendo that have long accented Stranglers music. I readily acknowledge that everyone hears music differently and not everyone will agree, but to my ears anyway, Dark Matters is as strong as any album that The Stranglers have ever released. It is difficult to compare a brand new album to ones that have been with us for 4+ decades but relative to choosing which is my favorite album by this band, Dark Matters is already deep in that conversation.Note: The closing track, "Breathe", is immense & moody and I thought the way that it ends is nothing short of brilliant (a communication signal that hums for about 40-45 seconds before it abruptly cuts off. Yes, on a certain level, that made me sad. No need to be "all bisted & twitter".