The thing about albums like this is that they’re hard to describe. Eight tracks, 39
minutes, shortest track clocking in at just under four minutes. Consistent. Something
that I liked is that all of the tracks are titled in ways that describe a thing, however
abstractly- A Shimmering View is something, as is (are?) The Ashes of Everything
I’ve Failed to Be, for example.
Long tracks give you space to feel a song thoroughly out while it develops, and for a
band that makes the most of its four members you get plenty of opportunities to do
that. The credits have two guitars, bass, three vocal credits, drums- not ultimately
complicated but, again, opportunity.
The standout for me was the way the vocals interplayed with one another on A
Shimmering View, which also benefits from being the first song to relax the listener
after three fairly full-on opening tracks.
The album’s surprisingly accessible for something that bills itself as this does, which
is both a good and a bad thing – the fuzz could be amped up, the scope could knock
your head off a bit more, there could be songs that are more memorable and easy to
return to all of which are fair, but also criticisms that could be levelled at most
albums. It’s an impressive return for a second record, especially for the scope you’d
be aiming at.
The other criticism is that, despite the allusions of size and mythology that are
implied, there’s something that never comes to fruition? Like, for all the grandiosity in
its titling that is mirrored in the scope of the music, where is the titular lens? How and
when is ruin casted? There’s no breakdown, no decay, nothing implied that would
reflect the themes the titles would imply.
So y’know. Hit and miss. Good, fun, room to improve… but good and fun regardless.
