The state of things today is very much on the mind of frontman Jon Scarpelli and bandmate Scott Simon on the latest record by electronic-rock duo, LowSwans. The Whole World Has No Clothes is a 10-song meditation on the waning of modern society set to ambient 80’s tinged synth textures, neo-prog electronic beats and dexterous vocals. Released in November 2014 to a sold-out show, the new Low Swans record has only begun to permeate the scene. With influences as far and wide as EDM, classical minimalism and post-rock, the record is a stylistic leap from their past records. Carrying the thread is Scarpelli’s take on the complexity of the human situation and the underlying tragic beauty. While songs like “Cannibal” and “What you Wanted” harken to specific catastrophes in recent history, they ask the wider question of whether or not the calamities of the past or the future are avoidable. Other songs like “Not Today” and “All of the Lies You Settle For” complement this idea by suggesting that we can be redeemed by our relationships even while the world spins out of control. “Little Boy/Fat Man” goes so far as to suggest the massively destructive power of unexamined conflict between two people.
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