Blonde Redhead have always enforced a haunting quality within their music. Whether that be through the ringing of their melodies or the echoes dragged through the vocals of band members Kazu Makino and Simone Pace. But what happens if you elevate those elements with the presence of a choir? Or even place a focal point on those ear-tingling moments found within a song? All is revealed on the bands’ latest album The Shadow of the Guest.
Marketed as a re-imagining of 2023’s Sit Down for Dinner, the band offer something a little different than convention with a selection of songs old and new, presented with a change. The first half of the album sees three songs from Sit Down for Dinner, along with their best-known song “Coda,” paired with the grandeur of a harmonious choir. The Brooklyn Youth Choir to be exact. The second half of the album is perhaps a bit more ambiguous with three new songs labelled as ASMR. This is all wrapped up with another mystery with the final track “Oda a Coda.”
Beginning the album, “Rest of Her Life,” enters a divine state with that addition of a choir. Already with beauty when first released in 2023, the songs’ opening moments and melody greet the warming harmonies of the choir in a glorious goosebump-inducing way. A fantastic start for the record. Going forward, a simple acoustic guitar, those harmonies and Makino’s vocals synchronise in glory. I feel I don’t want to leave the soundscape formed.
“Before” starts somewhat like the original with a gentle patter of guitars and drums. Once the chorus hits however, the change ignites before you, with the choir once again elevating the song.
The original version of “Via Savona” was already angelic in ambiance, being an instrumental which was more like a creation of atmosphere. And with immediacy in this new version, that happens again but with so much more weight to it. Vocals hit you from every direction as those layers of voices almost become an orchestra adding definition to the song. It’s a truly outstanding take on an already incredible piece of music.
“Coda” is darker in its sound than the previous songs so the addition of a choir gives it a more sinister tone which juxtaposes with those more heavenly pieces which have gone before. It’s refreshing though and certainly doesn’t feel out of place within the confines of the album, really allowing the complexity of those twisting melody lines to travel with greater depth and ending the choir section of the album.
Initially perplexed by the idea of songs being labelled as ASMR, it all makes sense as we enter the first of three songs with that label, “Kiss Her Before The Snow Melts.” Eleven minutes overall, the song greets us with a journey of separate instrumentals glued together, all played along with the clever placements of instruments to mimic the sensory satisfaction which ASMR intends to offer. Moments of pulsing synths, breezy guitar licks and clean beats meet and, somehow, it all comes together and works perfectly.
“Good Morning Sunshine” is the first of back-to-back ambience on the record, with a song that creates a soundscape to mimic that of being greeted by the outside world, surrounded at once by nature. Think if Boards of Canada did the soundtrack to an Attenborough documentary, it might sound like this.
The second helping of ambiance is “Good Night Til Tomorrow,” and is the more classically ambient song of the two. Flutters of electronica go from left to right as beats pierce through gently in the background. Subtle but stunning.
Our final song “Oda a Coda,” re-imagines “Coda” once again but this time with strings, a classical guitar and a soft mariachi sound. Once again it sways from the offerings of the rest of the album but still remains firmly in its ability to sit well amongst them. It’s a bold end for the album, but one that works well.
Blonde Redhead have once again managed to quell any doubt within their musical experimentations, debuting a refreshing new look for their music without steering too far from what fans will enjoy. They’ve put together an ethereal blend of complex and simple musical structures which send us on a winding journey of sound. Without a doubt, the album’s 36-minute runtime doesn’t feel like it’s enough, with each song forcing us to be transfixed by a soundscape adjacent to heaven, you don’t want to leave.
Blonde Redhead: The Shadow of the Guest – Out 27 June 2025 (Section1)
