Things We Lost In The Fire

Loved this. The dreamiest of indie dream pop. I could sit in this vibe forever. Rating: 5 Playlist track: Sunflower Date listened: 15/12/24

Absolutely beautiful album, I love Low and this is probably my favourite album of theirs. Easy 5 stars, thanks to whoever added this one.

I'm a Minnesota guy so these are my people, and I always liked Low. I last saw them live in the early 2000s, actually might have been touring this album? Very sad to hear Mimi Parker's lovely voice and be reminded of her absolutely tragic, far too early death. This goddamn world.

I do a horrible job of keeping up with the user albums, but I still check regularly, and as someone that was only really familiar with their final album, the tragic passing of Mimi, and recently saw Alan perform live (opening for GY!BE), I’ve been meaning to check out their earlier stuff and I’m glad you got me to do it!

In the right setting, this slow, harmonious, quiet, and deliberate album is just perfect. Dark, but beautiful in its minimalism

Not the Low album I would have picked (that being I Could Live In Hope, or even Double Negative), but then they don’t have a bad pick! Glad to revisit this once more 🙏

This was really excellent. Haunting and elegant, if a bit slow moving at times. Fave Songs: Like a Forest, In Metal, Sunflower, Dinosaur Act, Whitetail, Laser Beam

I'd heard of Low when one of their members passed away, unfortunately. I briefly checked out "HEY WHAT" after, because I found the name funny, but didn't dig more beyond that. This is right up my alley. I think the one thing holding me back from shouting praise from the rooftops is it's a little one-lane. There aren't any real heavy tracks here, and that's clearly by design. It's slow, thoughtful. It's very good. Call it a 4.5. Favorite tracks: "July", "Sunflower", "In Metal"

A band I knew by name, but hadn't listened to a full album by. A worthy addition to the list; the only surprise is that it wasn't there already. Sounds slightly out of time, in relation to the rock music that was charting around the same time, but has a timeless quality as a result.

Perfect for certain days. Today happens to be one of those days. Great share.

This is really nice. When I saw "Low" the first thing that came to me was that song by Cracker, although I couldn't remember who sang it or whether the song was called that or the band, so that was what I was expecting going in. Thank goodness it wasn't that. This is mellow, somber, melancholic, and beautiful. Will listen again. 4 stars.

Beautifully sparce but driving sounds with a grundgey backbone

June 1, 2025 HL: “Sunflower”, “Dinosaur Act”, “Laser Beam”, “Embrace”, “In Metal” First Low album! Better than I expected, quite haunting at times. I figured it would be a depressing hour, but I find my spirits picked up after listening.

Low is one of those bands who I constantly do a disservice to by not remembering how excellent and varied their discography is. While I prefer the more experimental, uptempo outings as of late, this band always LPs straight from the heart – there's not a second on this album that doesn't feel genuine and crafted with care. Nice to hear a band out there that's still making music for music's sake, great add!

Truly great indie rock album. All songs are beautiful and Sunflower is sublime.

The Things We Lost In The Fire is time, and the time it takes to take it, doubling down on itself and making you tally the seconds ticking on the clock. *Slowcore*, a tag Low was said not to be at ease with, and yet the best one we have to articulate the magic of their music. You slow down your bodily rhythms until they fit with each movement of the needle. The one stuck to the long groove on your record, here spinning in front of your hypnotized eyes. And the one gently bouncing on the wall as each second is counted. The Things We Lost In The Fire is the chiaroscuro wonder of songs that could be either sung as a lullaby to the little ones or as a paean to the moon, howled by gentle and sad creatures of the night. The Things We Lost In The Fire is the infinite melancholy and the delicate touch of the band as they handle their instruments -- here helped by a bunch of guests that all bring their incredible skills to the same goal: awe you, finding your soft spot, make you shudder, make you cry -- as long as you open your ears and your soul enough. The Things We Lost In The Fire is family memories, demonstrations of faith, tender acts of love, sudden moments of defiance, elegiac folk hymns to the present time... Sometimes they're conveyed through a walk in mysterious, hazy woods, where everything feels so ethereal you could think you're strolling on the lunar surface ("Whitetails" or "Embrace", foretelling through analog aesthetics the barren digital landscapes of *Double Negative* and *HEY WHAT* two decades later -- hereby proving how consistent Low has always been in spite of the many stylistic turns during their perfect career). Other times those emotions are served courtesy of a generous array of heartbreaking melodies and subtly climactic surges ("Sunflower", "Dinosaur Act", "July", "Like A Forest", "In Metal"). The Things We Lost In The Fire is Steve Albini and how his ethos, recording methods and sound aesthetics simply transcend each and every detail in this extraordinary record. Steve has recorded so many pivotal albums from great acts it is easy to lose count of them. But by my book, this LP is among the ten best records he has ever "non-produced". Rest in power, Steve. The Things We Lost In The Fire is Mimi Parker's voice, soft and yet always self-assured, the mossy rock over which Alan Sparhawk's own gentle vocals anchored themselves so tirelessly, husband and wife harmonizing on eternal songs filled with longing, pain and relief, either mystical or deeply humane. I want to believe that when the world lost Mimi, God was the first to cry -- and if not him/her/them, whatever higher power in the skies had the sheer luck of hearing those songs through the static routinely sent from our forlorn planet. Whoever you are, you who chose this record for this list, and wherever you are -- whether on the snowy plains of Minnesota or lost in the outback in Australia... thank you. I don't need any pretext to spin this LP, just like the vast majority of the other Low albums you can find in their discography. But I think I needed to hear this one today. Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 26 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 37 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 67 --- Émile, j'ai mis ma dernière réponse sous l'album de The 1975 au dessus...

I was familiar with Low from their 1999 Christmas album. I love the song “Just Like Christmas.” This album was much more down - had a very depressing tone. Still, I did like it overall. Just not the best music for playing at the gym.

Get low with Low

Now this is the right type of music for someone who just had their heart broken. Melancholy dream pop that’s vaguely sad but still easy to listen to.

I really like this- laid back, pensive and low-key music. Dare I say Post rock? I'll listen to this again.

Whilst American indie rock is to the listener list as 1967-1970 rock is to the main list, this still felt like a decent addition, and was a much easier hour than I anticipated

Rating: 6/10

A very chill little album that was quite beautiful but did not leave a huge impression on me. May be a tougher nut to crack.

Slow and depressing. How I like 'em.

Hmm

Eh, average. 3/5.

Not sure how this would be justified as a worthy of the list. It is easily approachable, but ultimately just pleasant and uneventful. Somewhat peaceful background music, but i didn't really find much engagement.

Yeah, pretty good

Yea, not bad

Never heard this before, it was good

Slow and low

This is well constructed and does what it does well. Lummy, it's not exactly perky though, is it?

The whole album, I thought something was missing. But at the end, on "In Metal", I heard what I was waiting for all along. Some build-up and a bit of 'schwung' as we like to say here.

Slowcore, dream pop. Rollo. Un 2.

It started out pretty interesting, but as it progressed I lost it. Just like the name of the band is LOW, and it even seems like music that invites you to relax and sleep.

It's very low

I get that the plod of the thing gets across the heavy emotions and such, but this album tired me more than anything else.

A tense and harrowing album compared to most. The soft indie style works for the album as the lyrics are dark and the singers present it well. Overall this isn’t an album that I really enjoyed or would want to listen to again. But pretty decent. 5.0/10

Hmmm... not really what I thought I expected from an indie album, but I guess that's the point. Whitetail didn't really do a whole lot for me. And it didn't really seem to get much better from there.

So so

Sounded a lot like the small band that plays at a bar late at night in a small town. That can be a good or a bad thing depending on the mood.

I wish I could get into this one but I just could not. Slow and boring

Did not set my world on fire,

Had to pause this and I don’t think I’ll be going back. Droning chill alternative for alternative’s sake is what I feel like

Having difficulty moving through this album. Might be me. Might be the album.

just an album of bummer songs.