ALBUM: New Haunts – ‘Worlds Left Behind’

A soundtrack for the witching hour, New Haunts‘ debut album Worlds Left Behind is a veiled, intriguing exploration of independence. Fusing elements of coldwave, goth, early industrial and synthpop, she’s crafted a collection of distinctive, ominous sounds.

As the album’s title suggests, New Haunts is caught between the world she inhabits and the world she once knew. She explores this on opening track ‘Ingrained’ through urgent vocal harmonies that rise and fall against a backdrop of slow, scratchy drum sounds. It bleeds into lead single ‘Reactions’, a cold but magnetic offering which laments the simultaneous beauty and horror of having emotional connections. It’s connections like these that make the tortured howls on following track ‘Left Me Cold’ feel so sharp. They contrast well with her tentative and pained vocals during the verses, as foreboding synths underscore another moment of painful clarity.

‘Hymns’ and ‘New Haunts’ take listeners on a gentler electronic turn, with some Kate Bush-style wavering vocals, whilst ‘Waves’ breaks through this ambient interlude with jagged synths and more of New Haunts fluttering, urgent vocals. Its dark, glittering defiance flows into the subdued ‘Same Medicine’, followed by ‘Safe Out Here’ which is full of more brooding synths and wavering vocals.

Whispers of insecurity permeate closing track ‘Ice’ – “and I give it my all / as far as I know / as far as I can” – before abrasive synths push through a “concrete truth.” New Haunts may be at the beginning of her solo journey, but her debut record shows she is well equipped for these intriguing sonic ventures. Fans of Zola Jesus and Kate Bush will approve of her gothic noise on Worlds Left Behind.

Listen to Worlds Left Behind on Spotify & follow New Haunts on Facebook for more updates.

Purchase the album from bandcamp here.

Photo Credit: Katie Murt

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Get In Her Ears w/ The Menstrual Cramps

Mari & Kate were in the studio this week playing a fresh batch of new music from the likes of LIINES, Dott, LIERS, Seraphina, Amaroun, Witch Fever & Partner.

They were joined by Riot Grrrls The Menstrual Cramps who talked about their upcoming second album, and what inspired them to start making their music.

Listen back to the show here:

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VIDEO PREMIERE: The Nyx – ‘Keep It Candid’ (Margo’s Living Room, Special Edition)

We’ve made no secret of our love for The Nyx here at GIHEs, so we’re excited to be premiering an exclusive video for their new track ‘Keep It Candid’. Shot in Margo’s Living Room by John Clay at Hermitage Works, the footage shows the band doing what they do best – losing themselves in a cacophony of their own sound.

The Nyx will be playing for Who Run The World at The Victoria on 17th May, alongside Bugeye, Pussyliquor & Militant Girlfriend (RSVP here). Make sure you head down to see the live fury of these ‘Fire Breathing Ladies’ and check out their video for ‘Keep It Candid’ below.

Follow The Nyx on Facebook for more updates.

You can watch more videos by The Nyx on Clark Kent’s Rock and Roll Revue (subscribe not to miss a thing).

Photo Credit: Keira-Anee Photography

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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ALBUM: LIINES – ‘Stop-Start’

LIINES‘ debut album has a tendency to skip from one track to the next barely taking a breath – rarely has a title seemed more fitting than Stop-Start. The band’s name, too, couldn’t be more fitting given their principal musical style of post-punk, with vocal, guitar, bass and drum lines all competing for prominence. If the cyclical nature of things means that musical movements are revived about every twenty years, then LIINES are perfectly placed for indie’s re-embrace of post-punk, a movement which dominated in the early 2000s.

First track ‘Shallow’ kicks things off and gets to express-train speed in seconds, with its choppy guitar line, and Zoe McVeigh’s vocals reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker. ‘Never There’ follows with a drive like that of Silence Yourself-era Savages. ‘Be Here’ is similarly unrelenting with its garage rock feel.

But this isn’t just a bouncing alt. rock album – behind the pace you’ll find sinister guitar solos and basslines that bubble like poisonous liquid. By ‘Find Something’ and its oppressive post-punk aura – coming off like Interpol hanging out with PINS, before halting abruptly – the album has its immense, dark hooks lodged into your brain.

‘Cold’ chills things down noticeably, coming as close to balladeering as Stop-Start gets, with Zoe’s vocals nearing a torch song style plea. ‘Blackout’ is constructed around another sinister guitar line, before ‘Disappear’ merges that sound with straight-out stomp via a flurry from drummer Leila. ‘Hold Your Breath’ is a broken love-song, whilst ‘Never Wanted This’ sounds like PJ Harvey fronting Breeders. Former bassist Steph’s deceptively simple rhythm work kicks off closer ‘Nothing’ and, as album closers go, it’s a banger with shades of Pixies in its structure and a wailing Zoe at its centre.

Whilst the two bands have a different emphasis, contemporaries Desperate Journalist’s 2017 album Grow Up is perhaps the most apposite point of comparison for Stop-Start, with both bands taking the best of their indie/alt predecessors and blending it into something that’s fresh.

Between them, LIINES and producer Paul Tippler (known for his work with indie luminaries such as Elastica, Idlewild and Stereolab) have created a sound combining riot grrrl disquiet, post-punk gloom and new-wave urgency. Despite losing a bassist (Steph Angel now replaced with Tamsin Middleton), the trio have crafted a debut that promises to be the pulsating start, rather than the end, of LIINES. A truly impressive debut from the Manchester trio.

Stop-Start is out now via Reckless Yes Records.

 

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

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