Few artists have had a career trajectory quite like A.A. Williams. She put out her debut EP in early 2019, before she had even staged a live gig, and by the end of the year, she was the new darling of the independent music press, playing major festivals, opening for the likes of Explosions in the Sky, Russian Circles, and the Sisters of Mercy, and had landed a record deal with Bella Union for her first full-length album. While the notion of a classical musician and secret metalhead becoming an overnight underground sensation makes for a good story, Williams success has come for a good reason -- shes a prodigiously talented musician with a strong creative vision, and her first LP, 2020s Forever Blue, is a remarkable piece of work. The gloomy whisper of Williams voice, clear and forceful despite the occasional fragile quaver, is impressive enough. Shes just as gifted as a composer, instrumentalist, and arranger; on Forever Blue, shes conjured a world thats beautiful but thoroughly haunted, where death, heartache, and menace lurk around every corner, and the elemental melodies are reinforced with keenly intelligent use of strings, bass, drums, and occasional interjections of crunching guitars. (The howling wall of electric noise and roaring guest vocals from Cult of Lunas Johannes Persson on Fearless may stand out from most of the rest of the album, yet in context it all feels like a part of the same puzzle.) Though much of Williams initial support came from the more esoteric corners of the metal community, Forever Blue isnt really metal and often barely sounds like rock. It is, however, inarguably heavy, with a massive emotional and sonic impact, and the measured pace and dramatic use of open spaces suggests Lows early work beefed up with apocalyptic undertow thats all the more punishing for its subtlety. Your friends who wear black all the time may be the target audience, but A.A. Williams ambitious blend of post-rock, folk, goth, metal, and classical ingredients deserves as wide a hearing as it gets, and Forever Blue is a uniquely effective debut album. ~ Mark Deming

Rovi