Ash & Ice [LP] in Bloomington, MN

The Kills
experienced -- or should that be survived? -- an eventful five years between 2011's
Blood Pressures
and
Ash & Ice
.
Alison Mosshart
moved to Nashville and worked with
the Dead Weather
as well as on her career as a visual artist, while
Jamie Hince
split with wife
Kate Moss
and suffered an injury to his left hand that required him to learn how to play guitar again. The process of recovering from a broken hand and a broken heart is apparent on the duo's fifth album, the title of which suggests the remnants of a night out -- or a nuclear winter -- and also reflects the trip
Hince
took on the Trans-Siberian Express in the wake of these events. The results capture the isolation and exhaustion that follow a breakup with remarkable honesty. Instead of melodrama,
Mosshart
explore weariness and loss via the sounds that seemed so vibrant on their previous albums. Despite its claws-bared riffs, there's a pall on "Doing It to Death" that announces
is more pensive than festive. Later, "Bitter Fruit" feels like a weary response to
Midnight Boom
's "Sour Cherry" as
sings "I am the seed of a dead age" over stumbling guitars. Just how hard it can be to shake bad habits -- or people -- is one of
the Kills
' prime fixations, whether it's the way
makes die-hard commitment sound like a kind of rebellion on "Heart of a Dog" or the defiant confessions of "Hard Habit to Break." The duo does find ways to change and grow in the face of trauma, however. Instead of returning to Key Club Studio, where they made many of their previous albums, they recorded
in a rented house in Los Angeles and New York City's Electric Lady Studios. These new locales led to sounds both familiar and different: at times, the album's glowering vibe recalls
(interestingly, that group's 2015 album,
Dodge and Burn
, borrowed more than a little of
' usual fire). Elsewhere, the hushed introspection of "Let It Drop" and "Echo Home" evokes
the xx
, another group that can make guitars and a drum machine speak volumes.
is also
' most confessional set of songs, with "Days of Why and How" and "That Love" making the most of
's gorgeously raw vocals. Sometimes, the duo's soul-searching is too insular for its own good, and the revved-up finale, "Whirling Eye," feels like it's from a different album, but more often than not
turn what could be seen as weakness into artistic strength. Even if they're lacking some of their expected swagger, it adds truth to
's portraits of what remains after the worst happens. ~ Heather Phares