“Five miles high, five miles high/I came falling from five miles high,” singer-songwriter Felix Bechtolsheimer sings in the opening lines of the powerful debut album from his London-based quintet Curse of Lono, and the feeling of spiraling down a Southern Gothic rabbit hole continues throughout the 10 tracks on Severed. 

Formed from the ashes of HEY NEGRITA, Bechtolsheimer’s new group pulls off the difficult task of offering a fresh take on rootsy Americana, in part thanks to its leader’s poetic lyrics (Faulkner would be proud), and in part due to a cinematic sweep that owes much to a band like Tindersticks or the recent soundtracks by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. (Indeed, the band collaborated with director Alex Walker to make an impressive short film called Saturday Nightbased on four songs from the new album.) 

A stumble through hell and high water was never so alluring.

Curse of Lono, Severed (Submarine Cat)

Rating on the 4-star scale: 3.5 stars.

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