Jesu – Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came

2011's Ascension showcased the guitar-led melancholia present on past Jesu staples, but it lacked the awe-inspiring sense of atmosphere that made Justin Broadrick's post-Godflesh guise such an alluring presence in the first place.

 

He consciously addresses that record's shortcomings here, reinstating the right textures and moods while continuing to look forward. Length-wise, Closer to the Light strikes a newfound balance, its running time sitting comfortably between leaner previous EPs and epic, drawn out albums.

 

The arrival of his first child likely inspired the record's light, wondrous tone; Comforter radiates pain and beauty in equal measure, whereas Homesick's low-tuned shoegaze harks back to the Silver EP's grey-hued romanticism.

 

The Great Leveller is the weighty, dynamic, 17-minute centrepiece, featuring a one-man orchestra masterminded by Italian composer Nicola Manzan. To expect the looming ghost of Godflesh at this point in the game would be to misunderstand Broadrick's intentions with Jesu: this is grand, introspective music, slow-moving and soul-searching.