Deafheaven
Lonely People With Power
Roadrunner
There’s a well publicised shift on this album for Deafheaven in that they’ve embraced their heavy blackened side once more. Where their previous Infinite Granite album was mostly shoegazey indie rock with only a couple of concessions to their blackened roots, on the surface this seems to have inverted that policy and as Doberman and lead single Magnolia come out of the gates blasting you’re reminded of Gaerea’s recent output. But that’s only part of the story because once the blast beats and fry scream vocals are taken into consideration, there’s a lot of guitar work here that is clearly post punk influenced alongside the aforementioned shoegaze lilt. Take Body Behavior for example and if you concentrate on the melodies they wouldn’t be out of place on an early album by The Cure. The Garden Route is another lesson in post rock dreaminess juxtaposed by fry vocals as is Heathen with its skittering drums and spoken word passages. What this album actually feels like, once really think about it, is the culmination of everything Deafheaven have done to date with excellent production. Incidental II features guest vocals by Jae Matthews and is striking in its total noise and stripped back quivering vocal call and response. Lonely People With Power to my ears is the magnum opus that Deafheaven have been building to since the genre classic that was Sunbather. This is the album that ushers Deafheaven in as main stage headliners and we’re very excited to see that show.
Review by George Miller