You would shine a torch to see your way forward in fog, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t think a guitar would make a good substitute but, in the slightly parallel universe that H. Grimace occupy, that stringed instrument can indeed show you the way to the light.
The drums roll with robotic conviction throughout these six songs – known collectively as “I Am Material” - in a manner that venerates all that is, and always will be, post punk but it is the guitars that add the voice of reason as if that very sanity would bounce these songs back into this dimension. Perhaps that might even be possible even if the spatial dislocation of “Royal Hush” suggests that reality isn’t actually that appealing anyway. “Wasted Son”, likewise, could easily be the soundtrack for falling off the edge of the planet but, as if to provide contrast, “Imogen” is so commercial that even an old school Simple Minds fan would find it more than acceptable.
Hannah Gledhill and her associates once again walk the tightrope between the edge and the middle whilst expending more than enough kinetic energy to burn off any accusations of resting on their laurels. As in all things, you have to go deep for the truth. Or, as is a common theme in matters theological, until you see the light.
Available as a download, or indeed as a limited edition cassette, from Bandcamp.