Week 46 – Nov 14th
Feat. // Picture Parlour, Home Front, Hotel Lux and The Devil Wears Prada.
The Parlour
Picture Parlour
Ever since the duo swaggered into the frame back in 2023 with their glam first Norwegian Wood, anticipation was certainly high for the pair. Their raw take on good ol’ fashioned rock ‘n’ roll was fresh, exciting and for a minute, all eyes were on them. Then, the next minute – they weren’t. Turns out that that Katherine Parlour and Ella Risi were quiet for a reason: they were busy crafting their first studio album.
Read the full write-up here.
Watch It Die
Home Front
Canadian supers of Home Front reaffirm their pop-punk status with Watch It Die. A whirly-gig of searing synths, vintage drum machines and tight guitar hooks, Watch It Die live and breathes the very semblance of The Cure and Eurythmics, a breezy swathe of alternative ’80s finding a modern home.
The architecture of Watch It Die is simple – 12 songs of danceable, hummable, rousing and honest music that only Home Front could make. Encompassing uncertainty in an ever-changing world, the record comes at a time most important for both creator and consumer. It is what solidifies these musical notions into meaningful art that goes beyond making music – it inevitably hits community and humanity.
The Bitter Cup
Hotel Lux
Avant-garde indie sorts Hotel Lux realise their worth and release their second – a completely self-produced piece two years on from their lauded debut. It’s every bit of a vagrancy, as it is an artist firmly establishing a crafted sound. A venn diagram of sultry indie and psychedelic swamp-rock, The Bitter Cup is an emotional intensity unlike any other, as the cockney jesters reminds just why they are here.
A permenant stay amongst 6 Music, we can only hope that their follow-up will just be well received as Hands Across the Creek.
Flowers
The Devil Wears Prada
Three years since they released lavishly applauded Colour Decay in 2022, the Ohio metalcore collective come back with ninth in Flowers. It can’t be ignored that Colour Decay was seen as the bands’ finest hour. An eclipse of the band truly finding their style and dexterity, how can such a record be topped? Well, three years later sees the band take a newly refined approach for something far more… heartfelt.
A bold ninth record sees the band step up a gear in both power and emotion. A blossoming ambush of grief and struggle amongst inherent anthems, the record twists into inspired initiator of Where the Flowers Never Grow before So Low comes in with a firmly rooted current of So Low before we’re submerged into the slow cathartics of For You, a deeply passionate outpouring of a brick wall of hard chords and screeched vocals. Before too long, we’re into the lead track, Ritual – a melodic favourite from a seasoned band who know exactly what mould to use. But against the ever looming shadow of Colour Decay, the follow-up – after three years – seems like a far cry to what we’re used to from the six piece.
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