Whatever You Love, You Are

AMG Review of Whatever You Love, You Are

Marc Gilman
All Music Guide

The Dirty Three have created their own brand of violin-infused rock and carry this torch of innovation even further with Whatever You Love, You Are. There are some characteristic Dirty Three moments on this album; the final song "Lullaby for Christie" would have fit in perfectly on their first self-titled album. The song swoons and breaks with a delicate yet powerful melody. There are some key explorations on this album that, even if they don't always succeed, depict a band that is far from comfortable with the status quo. "I Offered It up to the Stars and the Night Sky" experiments with overlapping violin tracks and ends up sounding more like a chamber work by Steve Reich than the Dirty Three. Although it's not the album's most listenable song, it sounds incredibly different than anything else the band has done. Another new direction for the band is in terms of production; much of the album contains overdubs and has a much smoother, but not always better, sound. Perhaps the only aspect of Whatever You Love that is lacking is the rough "live" sound that the other albums have had. The production takes away from some of the band's spontaneity but also allows it to refine the subtleties of their sound. Hopefully, with time, the Dirty Three will be able to fuse their rough-edged sound with technological advancements to achieve a perfect synthesis.