"Enter Cults, aka Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion, Californians-turned-New Yorkers who take the usual musical ingredients (vintage R&B chord progressions, reverb-laced girl-vocals) and add psychedelic clamor, guitar fuzz, and a booming low end. Cults are excellent songcrafters, expert at boosting drama with dynamics and unexpected sounds. But what sets their music apart is feeling: the mood of wistful romance that hovers over the songs, the idea that love is an insoluble mystery."
Jody Rosen, Rolling Stone, 2011
I've blogged about Cults before, and after spending more time with their two albums - Cults (2011) and Static (2013) - it seems to me that the Brooklyn-based duo of Follin and Oblivion really excel at the art of evoking the darker, neo-Gothic side of modern romantic relationships (the duo were in a romantic relationship when their first album was recorded, but broke up before recording their second album).
With 'Abducted', the first track for their self-titled album, the duo aren't in the 'mood for wistful romance' - they're in the mood to flesh out the angst and agony of a dissonant relationship. The song basically consists of the repetition/reiteration of two verses:
'I knew right then that I'd been abducted I knew right then that he would be taking my heart I knew right then no one was above himI knew right then that he would be breaking my heart
He tore me apart because I really loved himHe took my heart away and left me to bleed out, bleed outHe broke my heart because I really loved himHe took it all away and left me to bleed out, bleed out'
Follin sings the first verse in a restrained, almost nonchalant, dazed manner - and then abruptly switches to a higher, far more urgent register as the drum beats accelerate into high gear. Brian Oblivion chimes in halfway through the song, revealing himself to be the source of Follin's emotional devastation:
'I knew right then that she'd been abductedI knew right then that I would be taking her heartI knew right then that I'd never love herThe reasons I hope the dream hasn't left her scarred'
The structure of the song is simple, but tremendously effective. As Rosen noted, "Cults are excellent songcrafters, expert at boosting drama with dynamics and unexpected sounds": in this case, the pacing of Follin's vocal delivery and the variations in the track's tempo make for a breathless, exhilarating emotional roller coaster ride - a perfect tribute to the kind of violent romance that leaves one's heart bleeding, gaping and scarred.
