At a time when being described as ‘post-punk’ can imply that you just fail to face out by yourself phrases, this six-piece recall the unique intentions of the style – a rulebook torn to shreds and a scorched earth canvas to do with as you please. Sure, the music on ‘So Medieval’ tends to be fabricated from acquainted core substances, however even Blue Flexible don’t appear certain what they’re going to do with them subsequent.
Twinkling piano keys usher within the opening title observe, solely to be shuddered to a halt by a thunderous guitar chord. Frontman Arthur Nolan introduces himself by singing: “No intercourse, no mess, no second likelihood, the ceremonial setting hearth to my underpants.” In case you’re instantly confused, then you definately’re additionally compelled to listen to extra.
That music, like a lot of the album it leads off, is powered by longing, melodic riffs, however the sense of an impending cataclysm isn’t distant. The identical will be stated for Nolan’s lyrics, that are arch and ironic in tone, however which additionally deal with the existential dread of our every day lives. ‘The Day I Mentioned You’d Died (He Lives)’ finds him repeatedly crying out that “we’re all in ache” whereas additionally lamenting: “Oh no, I can’t really feel something.” The band’s music displays this confusion, evoking a Victorian fairground trip within the model of The Beatles‘ ‘Being For The Profit Of Mr. Kite’ with warped guitar notes and haunting, disorienting keys.
The album is persistently athletic, too. All through, Blue Flexible shimmy between musical lanes comfortable, flitting from the Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci-like whimsy of ‘Sunny’ to ‘Cloudy’, which blossoms from a twitchy, anxious indie observe right into a sweeping epic within the mould of early Sea Energy. After which on ‘Mr. Bubblegum’, Nolan sings: “I can deal with being the third finest guitar band in London, however child simply let me be first at one thing.” It could be a realizing, self-deprecating quip, however with ‘So Medieval’, Blue Flexible have proven that they might simply be underestimating themselves.
Particulars
- Launch date: April 12
- Report label: The state51 Conspiracy
