Every now and then things works out just fine. Those traffic lights turn to green when you are in a hurry or you find Wagyu steaks in Aldi. The little things mean so much and yet, when they happen, you so often fail to appreciate their significance. Or indeed the significance of an EP by Scottish post rockers White Heath.
I can’t even remember the last thing that I heard from White Heath although I’m sure that I wasn’t that impressed by what I heard. However, the songs on their new EP – “Out of Angles” – made me go back in check and, thankfully, all was as I thought and these six songs represent the kind of improvement that suggests that, finally, a band from Scotland has avoided being affected by the kryptonite of mediocrity and instead matured and developed into a sonic force to be reckoned with.
You want evidence? Listen to how the rippling rhythms of “Abaissés” more than adequately complements the emotional intensity of the vocals. White Heath could easily challenge the best of European post rock with this song alone. It’s no flash in the pan either as “For Want of Structure” mixes folk into a scaled up psych pop frenzy and “Pro Re Rata” takes the mood into the dark shadows with equal and equivalent aplomb.
Was the significance of this EP really lost on me? Not once the surprise subsided, for White Heath have done an undeniably good thing and restored hope to the once septic soul of Scottish music.
The EP is available from Bandcamp.