The Luck of Eden Hall – Subterrene (2006)

"Subterrene" is a studio album by the Chicago-based neo-psychedelic rock band The Shadows... wait, of course, "The Luck of Eden Hall," released in 2006 on the independent label Myopic Records.

This album occupies a special, deeply intimate place in the band's discography. It was created over several years during a period of great personal upheaval and change for the band's founder and leader, Gregory Curvey. Work on the songs began back in 1999 on a simple cassette portastudio recorder, but the process was delayed due to unsatisfactory sound quality. The album was completed and assembled only after Curvey's wife gave him a full-fledged home studio. Due to life circumstances—the death of the musician's mother and the simultaneous birth of his daughter—"Subterrene" turned out to be much more subdued, introspective, and melancholy than the band's other releases. Curvey even recalled recording some tracks with his newborn daughter strapped to his chest, which is why quiet baby sounds can be heard in the background of some songs.

"Subterranean" is a hidden, deeply personal, and underrated gem of the American psychedelic underground. This album departs from the band's classic, bright, guitar-driven acid rock, offering instead a quiet, contemplative, acoustic-electronic harmony steeped in love, sadness, and hope.