black midi - "Hellfire" (2022)

Following straight on from last years Cavalcade, black midi are back with their 3rd record, Hellfire. The band claimed that 'if Cavalcade was a drama, Hellfire is an action movie', and that certainly is the case with all of the elements that made up that record returning but with supercharged intensity and ferocity. The complicated, technical grooves that build the base of their sound are here, alongside the fusions of classical and jazz instrumentation that Cavalcade brought along - but is all brought forward in a much more immediate and forceful way. The record is two tracks longer than Cavalcade yet is nearly four minutes shorter, so it doesn't have time to ebb and flow in the same way as that album. It's a breakneck rollercoaster to the finish. 

The most obvious change to create this sense of immediacy is the approach to lyrics and themes. This is the first time a bm record has presented its ideas so blatantly, with the stories these tracks tell actually intelligible - as opposed to the obtuse doom propheteering of Cavalcade and the general psychotic ramblings of Schlagenheim. The titular intro track spells out all that Hellfire is, being the grim reality of mortality and death, the graphic brutality of war and the ideas of sin and damnation that try to make sense of all the madness. 

The more upfront lyrics of the album combined with the sprint to the finish pace make it probably the most accessible bm record of the three, with the tracks on the first half of the record just rolling into each other with no room to let up. Following on from the intro track, Sugar/Tzu opens with a theatrical sporting announcement before exploding straight into pummelling arpeggios and bombastic horns - reinforcing the themes of the trivialisation of war through viewing it as some kind of game where personal glory can be gained. The end of the song crashes straight into Eat Men Eat, a less brutal but just as tense track sung by bassist Cam Picton. The sinister flamenco groove of the song perfectly matches the creepy and graphic tale of mutiny and food poisoning as a mine captain tries to poison his workers to produce stomach acid to be the secret ingredient in has wine production. It's graphic and weird and reminds me of those slightly traumatising kids stories you'd see on CBBC in the 2000's (obscure reference, I know).

This then bombards straight into Welcome To Hell, the lead single and anchor for the albums themes. Geordie Greep plays the role of a WW1 recruitment / training officer, luring in the character of Tristan Bongo to sign up with tales of glory and adventure, before revealing his true intentions about using him purely as a tool to kill others in the 'game of war' and descending into abuse and eventually discharging him for not withstanding the trauma and developing PTSD. Musically it is perhaps the most refined of the bm cacophonous walls of sound / pummel your face off type tracks which matches the vocal delivery from Greep perfectly. Still is the first time the album lets up, and after the intensity of instrumentation and lyrics of the first four tracks it is a necessary breather. Lyrically it is the most lightweight on the record, being a mere breakup song - as opposed to the traumatising horrors of humanity thus far. It has a country twang to it and there's a particular part towards the end where it progresses into a kind of barn dance breakdown that I really like and wish lasted longer than a couple pf bars. As much as I like Still, it does feel at odds with what comes before and after it in the record. Where every other song is about the traumatic depths of humanity, Still is just a kind of sad but generally calm and unemotional breakup tune.

Half Time brings back the sporting themes from Sugar/Tzu and signals the transition to the back half of the record, which unfortunately doesn't grip me like the first half. The Race Is About To Begin picks up the story of Tristan Bongo after Welcome To Hell, where he descends into a gambling addiction betting on horses. The song has musical similarities and call backs to that track, which in my opinion means it struggles to set itself apart in its first phase. As the track progressive, Greep's vocals descend into this staccato semi-rapped / semi spoken word delivery reminiscent of a horse racing commentator; and while it does distinguish it from Welcome To Hell, it feels a little gimmicky and the track as a whole goes on way to long. On every listen for me, Dangerous Liaisons and The Defence slide into background, they're just fairly unremarkable compared to the front end of the record and black midi in general. They follow the same themes as the rest of the record, with more of a religious slant dealing in temptation and sin and hypocrisy. Perhaps it's just the sheer bombardment of words and ideas of the record up to this point that I am just desensitised to the themes by this point.

27 Questions Closes out the record and one again brings back some of the lost intensity with thunderous pianos and crashing percussion, sounding like some kind of march towards inevitable death. Which is what the song is about as the protagonist escapes awful weather out in town one night in a free admission show by the character Freddie Frost, a washed up actor making his last play about his life's achievements as he is on deaths door. The whole first half feels sinister and foreboding as the play tries to dress up Freddie Frost as a grand and accomplished figure, before the second half completely unravels it. It's sung from the perspective of Freddie, and becomes the play he has written, which he finishes off by listing off his 27 questions about 'life the universe and everything', completely demolishing the fake grandeur of the performance, declaring it pointless and farcical in the face of death, becoming completely self-deprecating before he drops dead on stage before he could even finish his 27 questions. I am really mixed on the track, as I get what it's trying to do, and I really love the musicality of the first half. But the flip to Freddie's perspective both musically pushes the theatricality of the album just a little over the edge into a territory I can't really take seriously, and also feels like the record descends into that kind of sixth form 'nihilism = clever' territory.

I guess that's my biggest problem with the record when compared to Cavalcade. As the lyrics and themes are more prominent this time around, its more easy to see that when you strip back the technical musicianship and wordy, meaty lyrics, its just plain nihilism. And while there's a place for it in music, dressing it up as something more profound than it actually is does rub me the wrong way a little. It gives off that 'look I'm more clever than you' vibe. Cavalcade was more patient, and more mysterious and wonderous, and more consistent. That being said, I very much enjoy the first few tracks here, musically and lyrically; and on the whole I'd take it over the somewhat shock value allure of Schlagenheim.

7/10

Top Tracks: Hellfire, Sugar/Tzu, Eat Men Eat, Welcome To Hell, Still

The Smile - "A Light For Attracting Attention" (2022)

The Smile is the latest in the long line of Radiohead side projects, consisting of the band's Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood alongside drummer Tom Skinner from the jazz band Sons of Kemet. The unveiling of the band and the release of this debut album has been a unique one for the wider Radiohead associated canon, with the band making their debut performance at last years Glastonbury Pilton-party livestream before going quiet for 6 months until the start this year where singles from the record would drop every couple of weeks until the full album released last month. This is in stark contrast to the last few Radiohead albums which would have a pretty quick turn-around between announcement and release, with only one or two singles (or maybe even none) released beforehand. And as each of the six singles released, I found myself thinking with each one, "This sounds just like a Radiohead song, why is it coming from a new side project just to sound like the main band?"

But after hearing the record in full, I think that's kind of the point. Each Radiohead record over the past 25 years has been something new from the last, whereas A Light For Attracting Attention feels like a conglomeration of a lot of the sounds and styles that were new and novel on those records. Besides from not featuring half the members, if this was labelled a Radiohead record, I feel it would be considered a disappointment for not being something wholly new and fresh. Not to say that the album cover any new territory of its own, because it certainly does. The record has a straightforwardness to it, lyrically and in terms of song structure, which brings out a post-punk energy to the thing that most Radiohead albums don't really veer into. However, it still retains its artiness with the record being the most indebted to krautrock and jazz since Amnesiac.

The record opens with the pulsating electronics of The Same, a slowly building linear tune where Thom Yorke proclaims "We all want the same". This is the first introduction to the major theme of the record, blunt political venting. The lyrics on the album are pretty easy to follow, compared to Thom's usual cryptic, word-salad approach to lyrics. This track is immediately followed by The Opposite, a tune built around a jangly, repetitive guitar groove and features lyrics juxtaposing the universalism of the opener, drawing lines in the sand between the people and "the opposite" (i.e. the ruling classes). This leads into the first single and real highlight of the record, the noisy and scrappy You Will Never Work In Television Again which tears down gross men in positions in power - making specific reference to Harvey Weinstein and Berlusconi.

Pana-vision is the first of the jazz infused cuts on the album, building tension through its ascending piano line which doesn't quite resolve. The horn and sting sections on the track sound emasculate and Thom's vocal performance is stunning. The Smoke is an interesting fusion of a simple post-punk guitar loop and jazz instrumentation. While the upper layers of the track sound great, the base loop is a little too repetitive and simple for me, meaning the song only really gets interesting when the jazz elements come in. However they don't progress into much, leaving the song feeling a little flat.

Thin Thing is a hypnotic and raucous krautrock jam that throws tightness to the wind, making the song feel really chaotic as Greenwood's heavily distorted guitar winds round and round and the layers and effects build up in the track. It might be my favourite of the record. It feels like being caught up in a random storm that has appeared out of nowhere and you are entirely disorientated. We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings has a similar bite to it, although sounding more straightforward and direct. It feels like the little brother to In Rainbows' Bodysnatchers with its crunchy guitars and snarled vocals. A Hairdryer is a twangy and groovy song that has a great moment where the track builds and builds to a climax that doesn't actually come, instead moving into a much more restrained lengthy outro, which I think is quite a creative and subversive bit of song writing.

Two ballads sit at the centre of the record, being Open The Floodgates and Free In the Knowledge. The former features Thom crooning about fame and the expectations of live shows, where fans only want to see the singles and not the slow deep cuts and heart wrenching moments. The song is pretty beautiful with the twinkling electronics and piano chords. Free In The Knowledge is a more traditional acoustic rock ballad about hoping for better days and the concepts of 'the truth will come out' and free speech. Its perfectly serviceable, however doesn't quite do it for me. It just feels a little impersonal for a slow acoustic ballad. There is also a moment on the song which Thom sounds like Chris Martin, which exemplifies the sort of nearly-radio 2 listener appropriate the song comes across.

The record closes with Skrting On the Surface, which brings back the jazz elements from earlier on in the record and has existed as a half finished Radiohead song for years (occasionally being played at live shows). Much like The Smoke, the jazz instrumentation lifts this song up considerably, with the base song kind of feeling like it never ended up on a project before now for a reason. Its just okay, not awful but not remarkable either. The swells of saxophone also feel sort of bolted onto the track to give it some weight and intensity to end the album on and don't really gel all that well with the core song here.

ALFAA is a good album, Thom and Johnny are insanely talented songwriters and there are some great moments on here. However it does feel a little unremarkable considering it sounds so similar to a main Radiohead album and doesn't do that much that we haven't already heard from them. There's no serious dips in quality here or weird diversions into completely different styles, so as an album in itself it flows really well and is easy to listen to. It's basically more Radiohead if you like Radiohead.

Top Tracks: You Will Never Work In Television Again, Pana-vision, Thin Thing, Open The Floodgates, A Hairdryer, We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings

7/10

black midi - "Cavalcade" (2021)

 

black midi burst onto the scene in 2019 with Schlagenheim, a mesmerising collision of post-punk, noise rock and experimental rock that was attention grabbing if a little too over the top and headache inducing. They have returned with their sophomore record, Cavalcade, which while retaining the core of the band's identity also takes some drastic sonic changes which I personally think have really paid off.

Gone are most of the harshest post-hardcore and noise rock tendancies, instead the band opt to incorporate orchestral and jazz instrumentation to fill out the cacophonous walls of sound that is characteristic of their style. What results is a record that can be equally as loud as Schlagenheim, but nowhere near as draining due to the sheer colour and verity of not just tracks, but individual sections of tracks also. The dynamics of these songs also feel far more loose and natural than on the debut, swelling into climaxes and ebbing back into spaces to catch your breath, as opposed to the whiplash nature of the first record.

Furthermore, Cavalcade feels like a tighter, more structured album. The sequencing gives each of the 8 tracks a sense of place and purpose. The first half matches the louder, more intense moments with ones that let you catch your breath; and the second half progresses from the gentle and serene post-rock of Diamond Stuff, through the progressively louder Dethroned into Hogwash and Balderdash which is as loud and colourful as the first few tracks. All of this leads into the final track, Ascending Forth, which is a grand theatrical finish for the record. It has a more intentional structure and flow the Schlagenheim which only adds to it's listenability.

The record opens with John L, which is probably the most brash and in your face song on the record. It feels very much like a mission statement, as if black midi are announcing their new sound. It comes crashing in with a complex, jarring rhythm and syncopated strings that produce so much tension. It then judders and rolls into the first section of vocals on the record; which Geordie Greep has taken a different approach than on the first album. While still bizarre and detached, they're not quite as intensely insane as the first record, which I think I prefer. He sounds more like some kind of profit of the apocalypse rather than a madman on here. The track then switches between this initial rhythmic section and a couple of quieter jazz and post-rock inspired sections that constantly mixes things up. The following track, Marlene Dietrich, couldn't be further from this. It's a loose and classical inspired art rock tune that's fairly straightforward in the grand scheme of the album.

Chondromalacia Patella is returns to the complex grooves of John L, but instead of throwing it all in our faces at once, it slowly builds and builds to a complete cacophony of sound and noise that somewhat comically ends in the sound of a whistling bomb. The slow linear build of the song allows for time to appreciate all of its elements and makes it probably my favourite of the entire record. Slow doubles down on the hypnotic grooves and jazzier elements, being subtler and more reserved than the tracks that come before it while still being quite frantic and manic.

The multi song build from Diamond Stuff through Hogwash and Balderdash is really great sequencing in my opinion that reinforces each of the tracks qualities. Diamond Stuff is beautiful and meditative while still being quite eerie and off-putting, and is a perfect moment to reset in the middle of the album after the manic first half. It slowly gains more traction as it progresses, blossoming into this really ethereal groove that sounds like some sort of awakening for the character of the track. This is quickly shifted up a gear by Dethroned, the most straightfoward post-punk the record gets. It grows noisier and messier as it goes and is the closest thing to Schlagenheim on the album. It works as a breath of fresh air from the more technical, proggier stuff that makes up everything else here. The chaotic and complex rhythms return with Hogwash and Balderdash, looping it back round to the start of the record before the big finale. 

Ascending Forth works as a big theatrical closer, but I haven't really been able to connect with it. I think it's due to the track coming across like a bit of an in joke within the scene, much like some of the moments on the Black Country, New Road record I reviewed earlier this year. Greep repeatedly sings "everybody loves ascending fourths", taking the piss out of the common music trope while also conveying the idea of some sort of heavenly ascension with the synonym in the title. Unfortunately it doesn't really land for me.

Aside from a couple of moments, this record builds on Schlagenheim in every way. It's better constructed, impressively technical and feels like it has more heart to it, being less reliant on attention grabbing gimmicks. The collision of Jazz and Classical with post-punk and progressive rock is really impressive. However I do feel that black midi are still a band that I admire rather than love, and for a lot of people I know the lack of any relatability will be a huge turn off. But for anyone already onboard, Cavalcade shows the band growing into something really quite special.

Top Tracks: John L, Chondromalacia Patella, Slow, Diamond Stuff, Dethroned, Hogwash and Balderdash

8/10

Black Country, New Road - "For the first time" (2021)

 

Hailing from the same scene that launched black midi into the music-nerd sphere, Black Country, New Road have been gaining a lot of hype for their debut record For the first time. I put it on for the first time a few weeks ago and I am totally on board with the praise the album has been getting. Much like black midi, the group is broadly categorised as experimental post-punk but that label doesn't really express the shear amount of genres the band seamlessly encompasses into each of the 6 tracks here. Elements of post-rock and progressive rock are effortlessly woven with jazz and jazz-rock, and the group even heavily incorporates klezmer (a type of Eastern European Jewish folk music) into the first and last tracks. It is so dense with each new moment brimming with new ideas and approaches.

At 40 minutes and only 6 tracks, each track is long and given time and space to grow and permutate into completely different forms. Everything also sounds so clear, it's not experimental in it's production techniques, allowing for the tightness of the compositions and performances to really shine. The record feels very segmented, with each song feeling very separate and compartmentalised from each other; but because the band commits to this it works. It feels like a series of 6 vignettes than one feature film. However, they all follow similar themes and concepts with frontman Isaac Wood's eclectic lyrics detailing stories about characters that are seemingly experiencing complete mental dysfunction and breakdowns. These first person perspective tracks go into such excruciating detail about minute and mundane things that it almost comes across as comic at some points. And I believe that it's intentional, these characters are losing their minds, it is supposed to sound hysterical.

The record opens with the introductory Instrumental. This track starts with a simple math rock groove before being quickly smothered by the Klezmer instrumentation of woodwind and trumpets. The track builds and builds to this super kinetic climax and breakdown. The descending melodies just make you want to move and gets the adrenaline pumping hard. Athens, France couldn't be more different. Starting of as a post-punk song, the track then shifts to film noir reminiscent jazz with a recurring James Bond-esque swell, before settling out into a serene chiming guitar led outro. It's dynamic but also quite gentle, which is in contrast Isaac's disturbed lyrics which seem to reference the demise of the group's predecessor, Nervous Condition, which disbanded due to sexual harassment claims against that group's lead singer. It comes across as almost a severe sense of shame that the band has inherited NC's members (bar the vocalist), musical style and potentially legacy. It's a complex emotion and masked under layers of subversion and diverting lines referencing speakers and Phoebe Bridgers.

The next two tracks are the most deranged on the record and the most reminiscent of their scene contemporaries, black midi. Science Fair unravels as this song that is about the protagonist's obsession with a woman that he meets in multiple situations, the titular science fair and then the Cirque du Soleil, or at least he thinks he meets her, he's that obsessed. It implies that maybe he's attacked her (or who he thinks is her) by the end of the song and runs off into the distance, but the details are murky and vague like some sort of fever dream. Musically, this is paired with a noisy and discordant combination of distorted guitars and wild horns and sax. Sunglasses, similarly tells the story of a 20-something that feels so lost and worthless that he's verging on a breakdown. Until he puts on a pair of sunglasses, in an effort to hide his vulnerability from the world. However this clearly isn't working as Isaac screams "I'm more than adequate, leave your Sertraline in the cabinet", as if he's trying to convince himself that he's okay and doesn't need the antidepressants that have been proscribed to him.

The only drawbacks the album has is that is so lyrically intense and somewhat pretentious that not every moment or lyric lands for me. The album feels like it's stuffed full of in-jokes and winks and nods to people involved with the scene, and when the band tries to go for something more relatable and straight up on Track X, it doesn't come across like they really are. The track just feels like it has dialled back on the eccentricity and insanity. However the record does end on a strong point, bringing back the Klezmer and combining it more with post-punk and experimental rock instrumentation and structures.

For the first time is certainly not a record for everyone, it's obnoxious and fairly pretentious, but it is so well composed and performed with really unique song structures and topics that never gets old. It has so many twists and turns and is nothing but exhilarating.

Top Tracks: Instrumental, Athens, France, Science Fair, Sunglasses, Opus

8/10