Послесвечение – До Лучших Времён

Nothing matches the late-night atmosphere caused by an obsessive continuous listening to post-punk music. Somehow this particular genre works for me during the night when I need to calm down and relax from a daily grind. There’s something in calm, cold, bleak, depressive, melancholic melodies that draws my attention and brings me back to this specific genre every time. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon Послесвечение, a relatively new Russian post-punk outfit that emanates from Moscow. Aleksandr Smirnov is mainly responsible for songwriting, composing, recording, engineering, and producing everything that considers Послесвечение and he does tremendous work in my book. He recently released a debut full-length named До Лучших Времён that caught my attention, so I decided to cover this interesting material on these pages. Besides До Лучших Времён, Послесвечение has a self-titled extended play with three compositions, so you might be interested in checking out that recording along the way.

До Лучших Времён carries eleven detailed post-punk compositions that slightly differ from the majority of contemporaries that are currently roaming the post-punk scene. It’s due to the massive implementations of several complementary genres that are flawlessly working in favor of this unique project. Besides the predominant presence of post-punk sound, you may encounter elements of post-rock, indie rock, alternative rock, dream pop, cinematic and even some jazz maneuvers along the way. The most impressive fact about Послесвечение is that each of the beforementioned elements perfectly suits the post-punk aesthetics. Aleksandr thought about each segment of his debut while writing and composing. Therefore, you will undoubtfully notice how some of his ideas and articulations are working in favor of his project. You may stumble upon some psychedelic rock, polyphonic ambient, and drone music as well. These orchestrations emit entirely new layers of melodies and harmonies that are enhancing this material even more.

Besides all these abovementioned features, До Лучших Времён appears as a psychedelic, melancholic, darkened exploration into the depths of post-punk music. Послесвечение continuously balances between sophisticated psychedelics and melancholic aesthetics, but there is also a colossal slab of darkness packed within each composition. It seems like each layer of sound liberates one of the features that define this material, but somehow Послесвечение includes even more subtle layers that are unveiling each time you listen to this tremendous album. The Russian language goes perfectly with these orchestrations, and to be honest, I couldn’t imagine any other language that would go hand in hand with this comprehensive collection. Somehow it works surprisingly well with Послесвечение’s calmy chants and post-punk/post-rock aesthetics, without spoiling the additional ingredients. До Лучших Времён is available on streaming services such as Spotify and Bandcamp. Give it a listen if you’re into post-rock infused post-punk, decorated with generous servings of psychedelics.