Vincent Presley’s “Music For Low” is a beautiful tribute to deceptive progression

The multi-instrumentalist’s latest limited-edition vinyl release is rife with meaning.

On July 14, 2022 the legendary Minnesota-based slowcore band Low played Madison for what would be the final time. Drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker tragically died that November. (The band was initially slated to open for Death Cab For Cutie that September at the Sylvee, but had to cancel that date, along with many other European and US shows, as Parker underwent treatment for ovarian cancer.) Over the later stage of their career, Low embraced subverting the emotionally-rich and incredibly resonant tranquility that had defined their early years by injecting it with confrontational abrasion. Moments of white noise, feedback, and in-the-red distortion punctuated key moments with startling emphasis, in a graceful tug-of-war between serenity and chaos. While heightening that subversion, they broadened their audience and sought out eclectic, electronic artists that operated from musically progressive mindsets as local openers. And for that July 14, 2022 show at the High Noon Saloon, they tapped multi-instrumentalist and Secret Records co-founder Vincent Presley—who has also spent time playing in Zebras, Those Poor Bastards, and various other projects—to do “something weird” for the evening’s opening set.

Presley responded in kind, constructing a memorable, three-movement set on short notice—he had just under 24 hours to work on it. By the time the show rolled around, the musician had assembled a series of synthesizers and over 30 minutes’ worth of material. While Presley performed that night, the set was recorded into a Tascam 8-track, then sent through to indispensable Madison-based engineer Dustin Sisson for mixing and then to Chicago’s Carl Saff for mastering. Ultimately, Presley would release the recording in a digital and limited-run vinyl release under the apt title Music For Low, in late March.

“Enter,” the opening track, maximizes an ebb-and-flow approach that coaxes a great deal of mileage out of tension-inducing musical undulations. Droning synths compete to take focus away from the cresting eight-note pattern that serves as the song’s center; but none ever quite manage to supersede its position, leaving the simple-but-commanding figure a steadfast lighthouse surrounded by uneasy water. It’s a beautiful introduction to a sublime work that, much like the band who requested its creation, seamlessly blends familiarity with innovation. Over the course of the track’s 12 minutes, “Enter” pulls listeners underneath its auditory waves, submerging them into something both inescapable and perplexingly comforting.

Following the gently mesmeric, extended insistence of “Enter,” “Confuse” takes a similar approach but opts to elevate its ornate atmospheric detailing. A number of engaging patterns appear, disappear, and reappear throughout a seven-minute runtime, at once the collection’s briefest and most expansively colorful track. Unendingly gorgeous and surprisingly sharp, “Confuse” uses its penchant for change-ups to measure up to its evocative title (virtually all of Music For Low‘s titling feels incredibly appropriate). The track’s splintering, disintegrating final minute is a jaw-droppingly acute realization of form.

When “Sedate” closes the set with another memorable extended run of elegiac synth work after the intentional deterioration of “Confuse,” it’s difficult not to think about the nature of endings. As Presley’s sonic current pulls the listener further under waves of warm, assuring tones, it feels like an arc of completion. And with Music For Low married to a harrowing context that came abruptly and with minimal warning shortly after its creation, the skeletal figures that adorn the album art feel as pointed and emotionally potent as Presley’s release itself.

As a standalone record, Music For Low is a gripping affair. As a tribute, it’s exceptionally and unexpectedly moving. Whether intentional or not, Music For Low is reflective of the band’s legacy, their penchant for deceptive progression, and innate ability to conjure deeply emotional responses from their listeners. All of those qualities more strongly bond Music For Low with the band the album was named for. It’s also a masterful demonstration of Presley’s talent as a chameleonic composer who routinely meets moments with the necessary amount of intuition and gravity. While the limited-run nature of Music For Low may suggest something slight, its contents are anything but. 

Music For Low is available in colored vinyl through Secret Records and limited to 115 numbered copies. Get one before they’re gone.