FAITH & DISEASE Passport to Kunming CD 2003

1  She's Got A Halo  4:37
2  Dyslexia  3:39
3  How Far Does The Sky Go  5:29
4  Between The Folds  6:05
5  Lost In Translation  4:56
6  Impermanence  6:24
7  Girl At The Window  5:04
8  Made Of Wood 4:33
9  His Faded Muse  5:43
10  She's Got A Halo (Remix)  4:54
Video  She's Got A Halo  

Changing gears seven albums into a band’s career isn’t unheard of, but when the resulting recording is as spectacular as Faith & Disease’s Passport To Kunming, one must stand up and take note. Once heralded for their gothic and ethereal textures and atmospheres, Faith & Disease have evolved into a band defining the best traits of the SadCore genre. Musically compatriots with Low, Idaho or late-period Velvets, their music possesses slow, downcast melodies, eerily isolated guitar or bass complementing the unmistakably beautiful emotions dripping from Dara Rosenwasser’s heart-broken vocals. Dara’s sublime voice floats over the melodic, chorus-pedal rich basslines, droney guitars, synth and vintage organ layers,as well as the tasteful, understated percussion. This is compelling SadCore evoking an updated version of classic ethereal-rock.

“For those of a melancholy turn of mind, Faith & Disease’s ethereal, otherworldly chamber music for the damned is an ideal soundtrack. Built around Rosenwasser’s lovely voice, coupled with Cooley’s guitar and bass, Faith & Disease feels like a long, shadowed walk in a deserted patch of woods on a gray, bone-chilling day.” – Ink19.com

The opening track is a gem, “She’s Got A Halo” evokes a lost classic from early Factory Records-era New Order, propelled by a looping bassline and scratchy guitar. “How Far Does The Sky Go” veers into dream pop territory, with some fine Bowie Heroes-era guitar coupled with Dara’s elegiac vocals. “Impermanence” is druggy ’60s psychedelia, with a vintage Hammond organ drone and a middle spoken-word tangent. “Girl At The Window” is an anomolie track; A romanticized homage to the vinyl era with it’s lonely distant piano-box and Dara’s engaging narrative forewarning winters impending gloom..and Faith & Disease should know, they hail from Seattle after all. And once again, Faith & Disease are masterful at knowing when to strip it all down to the bare elements — take “Made of Wood” for instance, a well-placed acoustic guitar strum and Rosenwasser’s vocals are all that is needed to convey the songs beauty, poetry and vulnerability.