Black Heart Procession

It's the morning and if Pall Jenkins has his way with me, I may be heading back to bed soon. Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel, following up on last year's 2, continue their Chicago-style album naming trend with Three. The space of the Black Heart Procession's work continues to be dark and miserable, with tempos dragging on through swampy keyboard textures and guitar pickings. Jenkins's voice is dreary and haunting, and is gaining likeness to Nick Cave as time goes on. "Once Said at the Fires" is as close as it gets, as Jenkins sinks an octave below his usual domain, darkening the vibe even more. 3 is a natural progression from BHP's other albums, but there is more of a presence of programmed percussion here than in the past. Distorted beats keep the pace on the eerie "Guess I'll Forget You," "Waterfront (The Sinking Road)," which is filled with the shrill sounds of a saw and waterphone, and the closing "On Ships of Gold," where Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino is heard singing through the phone from New York. Overall, there are no big surprises on Three, it's simply another painfully moving album - exactly what we've come to expect from the Black Heart Procession.