Without a doubt, Wes Borland’s new project Black Light Burns is one of the best sounds I’ve heard in years. Straight to the favourite band list. Sophisticated, dark and powerful; both the songs and the album collectively take you on a journey.

The latest interview with Borland I’ve read provides great insight.

The record starts real aggressively, but toward the middle it gets a little more hurtful and hurting, lyrically, trying to express painful feelings, but still in an aggressive way. Then it kind of opens up in the end. And that was the purpose: to attack, then explain, then release and be done with it.

Those of you who are already familiar with Borland’s new project will know that originally it was to be an album comprised of all guest vocalists. However, in the end, after searching for a such a particular sound, Borland figured it’d be best to do it himself. And an awesome job he did – with a broad range of depth, intensity and aesthetics. As a singer, it’s truly an inspiration.

“I was talking to Trent Reznor, playing him these tracks in their infancy,” Borland remembers. “And he said, ‘You’re singing like somebody’s sleeping in the next room. You should try to open that up.’ You know, it’s really easy to do cool electronic music that’s instrumental and put soft vocals over it, but it’s a lot harder to write actual songs and have them hit people.”

Black Light Burns – Cruel Melody is not to be missed. You’ll put it on and be consumed.