The music of The Veils would fit right in at most modern spiritual gatherings. Lead singer and songwriter Finn Andrews says that he’s compelled to write about love and death— the essential religious themes distilled into two words.

Since The Veils didn’t initially have a label’s financial support, Andrews produced Asphodels himself. Much like his other work, it’s quiet and reflective, with poetic influences and themes that some might consider morbid.

But The Veils’ work is like the Greek goddess Persephone. It’s split between the realms of the living and the dead. They’re driven to celebrate humanity and renewal, but that also means ruminating on mortality: “How brief the dream of life / But how sweet the dream of life” (“The Dream of Life”).

In “O Fortune Teller,” Andrews implores “Don’t tell me too much.” Once again, he’s at a crossroads. Is it better to know or to be blissfully ignorant? The strings swell and the piano playing intensifies before ending abruptly.

“The Ladder” has the feel of a whispered folktale and a dangerous, hurried journey. The narrator describes his journey into the Valley of the Dead, “far across the water.” “Meet you at the ladder,” he sings, and it’s eerie to wonder whether he’s saving or endangering his loved one.

It would be easy for Asphodel to veer into distinct downer territory. It’s a credit to the band that they avoided taking this route, instead working with several playful and even hopeful piano melodies. “Melancholy Moon” and “Concrete After Rain” are two prime examples. They’re simple. Repeating refrains are commonplace throughout the album, but they’re comforting rather than tiresome.

Asphodels is threaded with a dreamlike quality, but some lines serve to shake the listener lucid. “I alone know the future that awaits you,” Andrews sings in “Mortal Wound,” and once again the listener is left to decide if this is threatening or comforting.

Their 2016 album Total Depravity would likely fit into the former category. Perhaps their biggest hit, “Low Lays the Devil,” featured on the season two soundtrack of Lucifer. The transition from reverberating rock to subdued hymns demonstrates the band’s versatility.

Any given track on Asphodels would make a respectable selection for a funeral. It’s a departure from The Veils’ earlier sound, but one that has been hinted at by more solemn, spiritual tunes like “Someday My Love Will Come” from 2023’s …and out of the Void Came Love.

-Lauren Textor