A couple of years ago, I managed to catch Milagres open for Low at the Bowery Ballroom and I was impressed by their sound – a sound that i had described at the time as being based around stunning sense of harmony, earnest, plaintive lyrics and vocals, and catchy hooks. But where Low’s sound that night seemed ethereal and seemed to arch upward, Milagres sound had more of a muscular insistence. 

In any case, the band’s debut, Glowing Mouth was released to critical praise. Their much anticipated sophomore effort, Violent Light was officially released yesterday through Kill Rock Stars Records, and the album is a decided change in sonic direction. Starting off with chiming gongs, swirling electronics, layers of humming and shimmering synths and plaintively nostalgic vocals and lyrics, “Jeweled Cave,” bears an uncanny resemblance to Simple Minds and to late 70s to early 80s David Bowie in the sense that it has a sweeping, dramatic feel. When i first heard that track I thought of “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” and of “All The Thing She Said.”But it’s also one of the funkiest songs Milagres has done to date. 

The latest single off the album, "IDNYL” (short for I Don’t Need Your Love) is an unusually soulful, sensual love song that has lead vocalist Kyle Wilson cooing the song’s opening line, “I don’t need your love/I just need your touch …” behind arching organ chords, ambient, swirling electronics and stormy drums. It’s a sexy song that’s interestingly enough reminding me a bit of Prince.