V might not be the most imaginative name for the fifth studio album from Essex-based group The Horrors – but with a previous track record for excellent music this shouldn’t be an issue. But can it live up the success of its predecessors?
Thumping, distorted bass lines, chilled synths, overdriven guitar (even including a solo) and dreamy vocals. On paper this is either your idea of Hell or it’s drawing you right in. But like it or not, this is the shape and form of this album and in particular, the opening track “Hologram”. With a long list of genres they’ve been attributed to (garage rock, garage punk, gothic rock, shoegaze and post-punk revival) The Horrors seem on the road achieving that mythical ideal in music… finding that their sound is ‘different’. This opening song definitely seems testament to this.
If the shoegazing element of the band is more intriguing to you, then slide straight on into “Press Enter To Exit”. With its almost lazy drum beat and a guitar that sounds like it’s being played at distance, through treacle, on a beach; it’s nothing short of the chilled, dreamy ideal that shoegaze encapsulates. “Gathering”, comes later in the album with what this reviewer believes to be vomiting noises. It certainly makes sense if it’s about the British sense of a gathering (think small youthful house party where everyone ends up causing annoying, small scale damage to your stuff). It’s got the same dreamy vibe to itself and almost feels like a throwback to the short-lived but bright burning ‘new rave’ scene of the late noughties (this reviewer realises it might be just the little fringed emo kid within him that remembers this particularly awful phase).
If you’d prefer something in much the same vein, but darker and more ominous as opposed to the summery sounds of “Enter to Exit”, fall into “Ghost” or “Weighed Down”. Switching entirely into a minor key, the easy-listening sparkle is gone (albeit there is some seriously bright synth in there) and replaced with a brooding, moody sound – or as much as reverb-drenched vocals allow.
Loaded up with influence from The Strokes, replete with Julian Casablancas-style vocals, comes “Machine”. This unapologetic and raw track spills out over the soundstage with it’s distorted and grungy guitar with the rich vocals of lead singer Faris Badwan retaining power and emotion through the reverb.
As we approach the end of the album, this reviewer finds what he believes to be the best track of the album. Sitting as the more standardised ‘pop length’ for a track at around the three-minute marker comes “World Below”. By trimming an extra minute or so off this song, it feels a little less self-indulgent than many of the other tracks on the album. It’s a wonderfully short sharp shock of a blend between the synth and FX of shoegaze and the pace and drive of the garage rock elements of the band.
Unfortunately, following the note on self-indulgence, the following track “It’s A Good Life” takes the other end of that particular stick. Despite a nice bassy fill just after the halfway mark that carries us through to the end of the song, it just feels a little bit lazy, as though the band has recognised the high caliber of the rest of the album and then just chosen to cop out near the end of the album.
The final track, “Something To Remember Me By”, thankfully does a great job in undoing the penultimate tracks ill effects. With its catchy, poppy beat and EDM-inspired synth and bass line, it’s definitely aptly named as the hook firmly seats itself in your mind and refuses to leave.
V, much like it’s forbears, is an excellent album and should have no issue charting. It’s catchy and poppy whilst managing to retain a unique edge that keeps The Horrors sounding fresh and just about unlike anyone else out there.
Author: Steve, Southgate
