Some bands just don’t feel the need to court easy commercial success. That’s not to disparage pop acts who make daytime radio playlists – there’s lots of great pop around at the moment – just, that others get on with doing their own unfashionable thing, with integrity.
Falling somewhere between the best elements of prog (there are some, honest – we’re not talking Emerson, Lake and Palmer here, more the likes of Porcupine Tree) and post-rock, the Canadian band‘s new album blasts air into the room like a small tornado. Fans of Mogwai, Tortoise and The Mars Volta alike will find much to savour here. But if that all sounds far too 90s, it’s very much a modern sounding take on such influences.
With occasional vocals from frontman Karim Lakhdar, which are vulnerable, or wild-eyed and manic, depending on the mood(swings), this is a truly epic beast.
But there is enough light and shade within to provide satisfying contrasts. It’s not all bludgeoning empty bluster without nuance. So, where New Folds builds layers upon layers of intensity with crashing drums from Anthony Piazza, Sometimes All You Need Is is like a chiming, low-key stroll through a forest at sunrise, the calm after the storm.
A Heretic Of Arrogance has a shimmering, cinematic magnificence, where drones and synth dissolve into crunchy guitars and towering percussion.
It’s the two respective parts of Pawn To King that best display the duality of their sound, though. The first version tentatively emerges from drones into a melodic, nearly-rock song. It’s as close to conventional workout as they get. The second is a tangle of eerie funk with prog soaked keyboard lines.
Trace is like a particularly moody and inscrutable house cat. It doesn’t need you to like it. It refuses to befriend you, and will never let you stroke it into submission. Possibly, your face will be clawed off. But if you find a place for it in your home, it will become a beautiful, purring companion. It’s not Stockholm Syndrome, honest…
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