CousteauX – “The Innermost Light” (iTunes)

Liam McKahey and Davey Ray Moor, the founding members of the UK-based, critically lauded, and fan adored cinematic noir alternative band Cousteau (which ran from 1998 to 2005), have returned in glorious force over the past year with the reformed and rebranded CousteauX. After much tantalizing teasing (with audio demos and more for members of the Full Moon Club), McKahey and Moor dropped their self-titled, 4-track debut EP in May and are currently at work on their debut album.

The CousteauX EP showcases McKahey and Moor at their potent and compelling peak – a rarified place that they never actually left, whether as part of Cousteau or when involved in other musical ventures (like Liam McKahey and the Bodies). The richly atmospheric and smoothly reflective piano, guitars, and drums-based compositions have remained intact, many times touched by supple bass lines, muted horns, subdued to shining strings, and other instruments, and always distinctively stamped with McKahey’s deeply smoky, subtly to vividly emotive, lushly baritone vocals.

CousteauX has now unveiled a new video for the strikingly dark, stark track “The Innermost Light”, which Moor co-wrote with Carl Barat of The Libertines. The song unfolds like a riveting film of pure noir drama as a foreboding McKahey thrills with his rough, but vibrant exclamations like, “Silhouettes in the lighthouse / Ships lost in the night / Secrets left on your pillow / The innermost light.”

The menacing sonic ambience (with an assist from Carl Barat and The Jackals) chills the blood with its purposefully stalking pace made up of low-tone guitar reverberations, a shadowy bass line, ghostly floating piano notes, tingling percussion, the sporadic sweep of horns, and emphatic drum punctuation. The video for “The Innermost Light” is a cinematic treasure trove of mysterious images that consists of ship sails, mermaid tails, antique navigational charts (Well, OK, maps in modern English.), and gold coins raining down from the skies. The looming, shiver-me-timbers visual vibe is intercut with a captivating McKahey crooning expressively into the mic.

Purchase CousteauX EP at iTunes
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