Best New Music (2.25.2019)

Desperate Journalist
In Search of the Miraculous
Shoegaze

There is a distinct fragility and vitality contained within Desperate Journalist’s musical back catalog. It echoes through their work with a courage that cannot fail to delight and inspire in equal measure. The London quartet's third album, In Search of the Miraculous, borrows its title from the 1949 book of the same name by P. D. Ouspensky about his time with mystic George Gurdjieff, and his system of “self-development.” It more than earns the intellectual and spiritual connection.

In Search of the Miraculous is a work of indisputable artistic maturity entwined with sharply beautiful poetic integrity that current fans will recognize immediately. Perhaps more world-weary in places, the album's overall tone is one of hopeful recognition of the complexities of life and love in all its forms. Stalked by shadowy figures and ruinous politicians, it is as if they have not only captured the sound, but also the tumultuous age of their influences; the gloaming indie goth of The Cure and The Smiths hangs in the air, as does the unshakable shadow of an 80's Britain, ravaged and divided.

In spite of all of this, a restless fervor radiates through the layers of fuzz; a refusal not to be consigned to a predetermined fate, allowing the glint of just enough hope to salve the scarred heart of a country crumbling. At a time when our phone screens are filled with news too heartbreaking to hold, vocalist Jo Bevan seeks solace in the bravery found searching for that sublime feeling. As the transcendental lead guitar line in "Satellites" bores into the rapturous chorus and she sings "I was always reaching for you / Oh listen / You eclipse them," it creates a ground swell worthy of elevating them to another level entirely.

Bevan appreciates it can be easy to become numb to the extremes of emotion for fear of being overcome, and still that is why it is so important to keep fighting your own personal battles. In Search of the Miraculous finds Desperate Journalist striving and challenging themselves, happily searching for that sense of the sublime in a world that will outlive us all.