The English contingent was headed by the Unthanks, whose strings and brass at times overpowered Rachel and Becky's exquisite bleak vocals.
Heavy analogue sequences are locked on to stomach churning rhythms and muted cosmic noise, all tastefully delivered with a bleak as fuck vocal delivery.
The album also packs in plenty to think about, as issues like sexual politics, injustice, and media manipulation are explored through jagged-edged vocal samples and bleak, grime-influenced beats.
There are no self-composed songs, and they all provide lead vocals on mostly bleak narrative ballads of hanging, murder and bewitchment.
Death metal vocals are typically bleak, involving guttural "death growls", high-pitched screaming, the "death rasp", and other uncommon techniques.
Then Faithfull was old with a vengeance; starting with her startling 1979 comeback album, "Broken English," she delivered a series of bleak and weary recordings full of cracked, cronelike vocals.
The salty vocal harmonies of Rachel and sister Becky make the bleakest tales arresting, however, and are supported by arrangements that slip cleverly between minimalism and string quartets.
No Coplandesque orchestrations for Mr. Crumb: rather, a battering of bells and a breathy wind machine assailing the homespun vocal line as it strives to maintain its course through a bleak landscape.
You can hear it in the sparse, bleak, challenging music the Neptunes conjure up: one-finger synthesizer riffs, disjointed vocals, harsh, trebly beats.
What this means is plenty of bleak, Berlin-era Bowie & Eno-style synth washes, a track called "Warsaw", and a guest vocal from Brian Ferry, oozing oleaginously over the hypnotic throb of "Shameless".
