The Lake District’s 80’s synch 4-some return with stunning third release.
Having only recently purchased Wild Beasts’ first 2 albums, debut “Limbo, Panto” & the Mercury Prize Nominated “Two Dancers”, I am surprised how completely different this new third release sounds. They trade in the unlistenable vocals of their debut for the almost Guy Garvey like vocals on “Invisible” & “Burning”. Opener “Lion’s Share” is a very simple song with haunting guitars which slowly build to a climatic end.
Like The National, they bring the drumming very much to the fore on “Bed of Nails” & “Deeper” but this does not deter from the calmness of the sounds. The simple guitar plucking over the 80’s background synth of “Loop the loop” to the sheer frailty of “Burning” make this album so easy to listen to. It just flows from one song to the next with ease.
Other highlights here are single “Albatross” & the utterly stunning 7 ½ minute closer “End come too soon”. Keith Richards once said that “one thing drivers another in a band, it all has to melt together. Basically it’s all a liquid” & I think that best describes “Smother”. This is a band on the top of their game.
4/5
Listen: Bed of Nails, Loop the loop, End come too soon
