The name The Savings and Loan hardly suggests finely-sketched, heart-rendingly wrought elegies that plough the depths of despair. The cover artwork, on the other hand... If you're feeling remotely down or depressed, then move on straight away. There really isn't much light amidst the shadows in this dark, stark collection of songs.
Fading in with the finely-picked, hushed and reverent 'Swallows' is hardly a barrel of laughs and paints a bleak, wistful picture, but 'Lit Out' plunges headlong into dark dolorousness, a bleak, bleak funeral trudge, with ghostly guitar detail floating like mist in the background, against a backdrop of grey buildings and dead trees. It's a vivid an unhappy picture that resonates through the piano that plods like an earthbound spectre to the heavy-hearted end.
Religion is a recurrent focus - 'The Virgin's Lullaby' and 'Catholic Boys in the Rain' both being desolate explorations of empty churches, hollow hearts and broken spirits. 'Catholic Boys' is a song Leonard Cohen would have likely written had he been of Gaelic descent, both in terms of lyrical nuance and beautifully barren delivery. It sends a shiver down the spine.
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'Met (a Storm)' isn't tempestuous, but dirge-like, and 'Her Widow' sees Donnelly croon intimately his crafted, poetic lyrics about torture and crucifixion. The cumulative effect of the nine songs on 'Today I Need Light' is intense, and harrowing. Yet for all of this, 'Today I Need Light' is a magnificent and majestic album, as likely to bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye on account of its painful beauty as its mournful tone. Just be sure to hide the razor blades before pressing play.
The Savings and Loan on MySpace
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