Thank you for the feedback, Trollheart! & Yeah, whatever you think would sound better for the title. I don't really care to be honest, haha. Right now I'm lazy and will probably leave it as is though.
I have more reviews to post here, might as well get this one out of the way even though I'm sure everyone has already heard enough about this album... Some other people on here have written better reviews of it than mine so don't judge me too harshly!
Review #02
1. She Found Now
2. Only Tomorrow
3. Who Sees You
4. Is This And Yes
5. If I Am
6. New You
7. In Another Way
8. Nothing Is
9. Wonder 2
Background
My Bloody Valentine – the band credited with producing the definitive music of the early-90s shoegaze scene – recently released a new album for the first time in 22 years, following their critically-acclaimed 1991 album
Loveless. The new album, entitled
M.B.V., was released on February 2nd of this year.
I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook one afternoon when one particular post caught my attention and made me pause to read it twice. Without any pre-release news or marketing, the band My Bloody Valentine announced that they were going to release a new album in a matter of hours. A few minutes later the album cover and title was posted, confirming the announcement and making me realize that the rumors of new music over the past few months – and years – were becoming real. Forgetting everything I had left to do for the rest of the day, I found my
Isn’t Anything and
Loveless cds and re-listened to them while waiting impatiently for the new album’s release. And then at midnight – 7 PM here – it happened! I clicked on the updated website only to be met with a 403 error. Too many people had tried to access the website at the same time and the servers had crashed. Well then. I briefly wondered if this proved a solid example of why bands should leave the release and promotion of music to the record label as opposed to the DIY approach that in this case had resulted in a clear and epic failure.
All of this would be jumped on by music magazines the next morning, but for then I resorted to waiting around online for news of anyone making it into the website and leaking the tracks while messaging some friends who had been trying to access the site too. The official page posted a late apology about technical difficulties – although at that point I was willing them to just shut up and take my money - when finally some guy who had made it into the site within the first few seconds posted a file-share link of the album download on Facebook. Obviously I held no remorse about copying the files as I was planning to pay for a physical copy of the album once I was able to. I listened to it on repeat through my headphones over the next 24 hours nearly every moment I had a chance to.
Music
The opening track, “She Found Now,” seems a bit like diving into a pool of cold water. You are immediately immersed in a blurry wall of sound that is exactly like the band you remember and are expecting to hear. The sound gradually ventures deeper into layers of background guitar that strive to reach the surface of the song’s apparent lack of a clear-cut melody. The second track, “Only Tomorrow,” picks up the pace a bit with an immediate beat that sounds like a
Loveless track – but with slightly less edge. “Who Sees You” follows with a similar style full of ambient layers of sound overlaid with the band’s characteristically-quiet vocals that you can close your eyes and become lost in.
“Is This and Yes” is a softer track that makes me feel as though I’m gazing up at a dark sky full of stars; the glittering sounds effects almost allow me to imagine seeing them sparkle. The following song, “If I Am,” drops you into another swirling landscape of sound, albeit slightly less memorable than the previous tracks. The next song, “New You,” however, is what could be considered a pop music masterpiece and is a definite highlight of the album. The bass-line bounces overtop a shimmering background of noise, and the vocals are the icing on the cake. “In Another Way” begins as a racing drum and guitar-driven song that soon melts into a melody that is one of my favorite moments of the album. The next one, “Nothing Is,” is a trippy, repetitive track that builds up into a colorful mountain of noise. It is not one of the more enjoyable songs on the album, but is interesting nonetheless in its value as an experimental track.
And at last, the finale to the album – “Wonder 2.” At first it sounds a bit like a plane taking off, and the noise begins to swell simultaneously deeper and higher to an almost-dizzying degree. It’s a pretty difficult sound to describe, but words that come to mind include spinning, turbulent, overwhelming, and chaotic. Overall it probably doesn’t sound like anything you’ve ever heard before.
Highlighted Tracks
Conclusion
While
M.B.V. may lack the jagged, heavier sounds of its legendary predecessor, this album has not strayed far from the band’s signature style to the point that the time-gap of twenty-two years seems almost nonexistent. The layers of sound, combined with Belinda and Kevin’s dreamy vocals, make the music as surreal and as great as anything My Bloody Valentine has ever released. This is a great album that will be a tough act for any other releases to follow throughout the rest of the year.
9.5/10