The Horrors - V

Post date: 08-Jan-2018 11:39:32

4 Stars

What the fuck is this? Cos it doesn’t sound like The Horrors that I was expecting, but then what was I expecting?

The Horrors that first sauntered onto stage back in 2005, dressed like Noel Fielding's brattier younger brothers, howling at the moon sounded like they looked, all goth influences and snarling vocals, this version of the band has more in common sonically with Jean Michel Jarre than The Sisters of Mercy.

Thick with electronica, this is a much smoother incarnation harking back to everyone’s era du jour - The 80’s but with some of the playfulness of 90’s big beat dance (they even include one of those going-out-of-the-room-just-to-come-back-louder sounding moments that were in so many of the singles at that time) they’ve ditched most of the black clothes but fortunately have kept some of the sneering weirdness.

For the most part it’s pretty approachable music, a touch of early solo Bjork pops up on ‘Hologram’ while the choruses have had some of Gary Numan’s DNA within them. ‘Press Enter to Exit’ sounds oddly similar to a Belle & Sebastian track but with a meatier production, it’s all a interesting grab bag of late eighties/early nineties sounds they’re using on this album but also the songs are some of the strongest they’ve written and even if they’ve traded the black mood for something much more colourful it still feels intelligently constructed.

Maybe we saw some indicators in earlier albums but this feel like a complete change of tack and it suits them too, it feels like they’re opening themselves up to bigger possibilities which can only mean more interesting times ahead for fans of The Horrors.