SKYING

Description

“Changing the Rain”: to change the rain, or rather to leave it behind and turn toward the sun. The opening track of The Horrors’ third album leaves no doubt: the time of assassins is over and, if it is not yet the time of cherries, the English quintet is entering a new era with delight. Gone is the gothic pomp of Strange House (2007) and the dark blur of the highly successful Primary Colours (2009), produced by Geoff Barrow; Skying still plunges into the twists and turns of British musical history (My Bloody Valentine, The Stone Roses, Jesus & the Mary Chain...) but reinvents them in a sauce even more digestible than usual. More mature? It is not impossible, since the members of The Horrors have celebrated the four years of existence that unfortunately few bands surpass. Not content with simply lasting over time, they even strive to season their music with psychedelia, shoegaze, punk, grunge, new wave... without causing the worst dizziness. “You Said,” a ballad in windy heights; “I Can See through You,” a post-rock storm; “Endless Blue,” an unpredictable cloud mass; “Still Life,” a shimmering rainbow; “Monica Gems,” a decadent punk whirlwind. And “Oceans Burning,” the ultimate celestial celebration... The sky is in all its states - like The Horrors, who deliver more intimate lyrics than usual. The track lengths, meanwhile, are still over four minutes, and can soar to nearly nine minutes (the intriguing “Moving Further Away”): could the rock band be trying to deny having made a pop album? Which is, nevertheless, and despite everything, the case. A distorted, mistreated, denied pop, but pop all the same. Written, recorded and produced near London, Skying is steeped in a hazy atmosphere, outside time, outside laws, outside genres, while remaining branded by The Horrors’ defining traits. Faris Badwan’s languid, distant crooner vocals, guitars twisted to the point of scratching, drums that are sometimes muffled, whimsical synthesizers... All this places The Horrors among the indie acts to watch closely. Sophie Rosemont - Copyright 2017 Music Story