Skying

Who: The Horrors
What: Skying
When: July 2011

My first ever blog! Hard to decide where to start, really. Well, no, not really. I decided on this record almost instantly. The Horrors released not one but two of my favourite albums in the past 5 years, so to say I’m a fan is a bit of an understatement, I like to think it’s a healthy bias, but suffice it to say I really want to like this one.

Firstly, can I just say.. The artwork. Wow. This thing is gorgeous. Physically, the weight of the vinyl in my hands, and the texture of that, it’s a proper experience! Neil Krug’s photography really is the perfect visual representation as well. Just. Wow.

The overall tone of the album is really bright, and open, and track one, Changing the Rain takes you lolloping through sun-drenched fields, it really is pretty as f**k. This feels like a record for the summer, it will be positively divine on a warm, sunny day.

There’s also a renewed crunch in the guitar sound. They’ve really let go on this album, letting it take centre stage on more than one occasion, coming through on Endless Blue and Monica Gems minus the My Bloody Valentine reverb that wrapped much of Primary Colours. Not to say they’ve done away with it altogether, the single, Still Life, and Moving Further Away are both demonstrations of a beautiful, shimmering dialogue between guitar and synths.

Keep an ear out also for I Can See Through You, which is both lyrically and musically direct, the line “no one remembers your name, no one tries” is particularly ouch worthy and for me, the absolute stand out track, Dive In, which is spooky, and sexy, a perfect example of what magic these boys can make.

Admittedly, there are some weak points (the extended jam session in the middle of Oceans Burning, surely better left as something saved for the live show comes to mind as an obvious example) but for the most part, the input of five very different individuals, and the seemingly disparate elements they bring has produced a delightfully cohesive work, and if I say nothing else of it, I like it. It’s melodic, it’s layered, and it’s interesting. It hasn’t grabbed me as instantly as either Strange House or Primary Colours, but I think it has a few more secrets yet to give up, there’s Still Life in the Horrors yet.