The Raveonettes' members know that there's an inherent thrill to walking on the dark side. In "Aly, Walk With Me," they create a seductively hallucinatory shadowland where the line between dream and nightmare is kept captivatingly blurry. Over a rhythm that feels like a perpetually skipped heartbeat, Sharin Foo's ice-queen verses effectively counter Sune Rose Wagner's menacing guitar lines and squalls of white noise.
Whether the "Aly" of the title is a human being, a spectral figure conjured from a dream, or even a demon isn't clear — and it doesn't matter. Part of darkness' allure is its mystery, and "Aly, Walk With Me" is about implied danger as much as it's buoyed by an almost childlike innocence. Provocative pulp-fiction soundscapes have long been The Raveonettes' stock in trade, and "Aly, Walk With Me" is the duo's finest, most exhilarating work in ages.
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