Amber Run, Philophobia - album review
Nottingham-forged trio Amber Run are back with record number three, and its glitzy sound is a sweet soother as our evenings grow darker, colder and wetter.
It encapsulates one of those sounds that doesn't scream summer, but reminds you of it. It's not a barbecue soundtrack, but a wrapped in a blanket, watching the rain, reminiscing of summer romance kind of moment.
Big production from Ben Allen and mixing by Claudius Mittendor (Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Interpol) gives it an almost echoed feel, a luscious haze around the edges which blunts the sharpness of the guitars and makes you feel at the centre of the music rather than on the outside listening in.
Move coverage:
No One Gets Out Of Here Alive is an early Muse-like number with passive aggressive guitars that manage to tread a fine line between sounding empowering and threatening. The build-up to the chorus is just as fun as the wall of sound builds itself around you brick by brick.
What Could Be As Lonely As Love sounds very New Order with those electro guitar sounds pinging out of Henry Wyeth's keyboard. It's a reminiscence track of another kind as we hark back to that particular band's glory days. Uplifting and breezy, it's a happy stomper of an understated dance track.
Joe Keogh's vocals sound at times like Embrace's Danny McNamara, at others like Metronomy's Joseph Mount or Brandon Flowers of The Killers, and he loves to let loose with some hearty lung-bursting deliveries.
The undeniable power in his voice throughout the frantic The Darkness Has A Voice crescendos nicely before the guitars rip forth in a catch-me-if-you-can frolic through the stratosphere. It's one of the more full-on rock numbers of the track and this is where the former work of Mittendor comes to the fore.
This nice mixture of blends makes for a record that on the one hand looks back at some of the bright sparks of recent British music, but on the other is a very forward-thinking model for the band. Compared to previous releases it feels like they are pushing walls away and expanding.
For the biggest example of this, wait for that huge chorus in Entertainment. Keogh again sounds enticing. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 7/10
Amber Run perform at Birmingham's O2 Academy 2 on October 6
