The deaths of strangers rarely affect me much - but the passing of Mimi Parker at the age of just 55 has hit really, really fucking hard.
From the moment I clapped ears on Low, in the form of 1999's Secret Name, they were a total revelation - a band who bucked rock's decibel worship by playing slow and low. Which meant that when they did start reaching for the distortion pedal (most notably on The Great Destroyer), the result was all the more impactful.
Low songs speak volumes: faith (and the crisis of), questioning rather than certainty, yearning, desolation, despair, redemption, love. And underpinning them all is Mimi's carefully minimalist drumming. But it's for her exceptional voice that she'll be best remembered - clear, beautiful, poignant, pure. I've not been the only fan to flag 'Laser Beam' from 2001's Things We Lost In The Fire as perhaps her most stunning vocal performance - one that had the capacity to compel silence when played live.
One of the biggest tragedies is that Mimi clearly still had so much more to give creatively. Low's last two albums, Double Negative and HEY WHAT, represent a remarkable reinvention that took the band's long-established core elements in a radical new direction.
If Low records are astonishing, then the live experience was rarely short of transcendental. I consider myself so fortunate to have been blown away by them in person on several occasions (Birmingham in 2003, Wolverhampton in 2005, Coventry in 2010 and Bristol in 2011). It's such a terrible shame that Mimi's illness deprived them of the opportunity to headline Green Man this year - that would have been beyond special.
But enough of what wasn't to be. This should be a celebration of what was (an extraordinary body of work). And, indeed, what still is - after all, her legacy lives on.
The collective grief expressed online and the volume and warmth of the tributes underline how well loved Mimi was - as an artist, but also as a supportive, nurturing influence on all of those who came into Low's orbit.
Thoughts and best wishes with Alan, her family and her friends. In Alan's own words: "Keep her name close and sacred. Share this moment with someone who needs you. Love is indeed the most important thing."
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