A decade after that sensational breakthrough performance on David Letterman, the Baltimore synthpop quartet release their best since – songs of thrumming melodies and heart-on-sleeve, passionate delivery by frontman Samuel T Herring. It was on that TV show that Herring’s chest-thumping emotion and growls with the song Seasons (Waiting For You) and his extraordinary unself-conscious, involuntary physical movement touched the hearts of many, sparked thousands of new fans, and catapulted them to huge success. The decade since has seen a mixed bag of material, but now with Herring fuelled by the breakdown of his long-distance relationship with Swedish acting star Julia Ragnarsson, heartbreak, as opposed to contentment, of course can bring emotional, powerful work.
And so it proves with this album, opener and former Song of the Day King of Sweden a tearful banger – “You are all I need / Nothing said could change a thing.” Another standout, The Tower, moves effortlessly between delicate verse and heart-thumping chorus (“I am watching on the other side …”). After this, the album slows down as emotion enters gritty detail. Deep in the Night expresses some hope (“I belong to you”), but for the most part, this is one of unflinchingly facing the failure of romance, destroyed by distance and time, such as on the time-ticking delicacy of Say Goodbye or the desperate Give Me The Ghost Back, Corner of My Eye, or The Fight (“now I’m back on my own”) or mood-changing, more defiant Peach (“one pushes up, the other pulls me down”) which soars and thrums, pop music mapping the very undulations of the heart and emotions. This very much enters “All By Myself” by Nilsson territory. It’s at times very catchy, yet painful, tearful release, but undoubtedly honest and powerful, and one in which absence certainly does make much for the music. Out on 4AD.
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