Released:
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A gorgeous tapestry painted with the bold, the fragile and the beautiful.
Label: Transgressive Records
Released: 7th April 2017
Rating: ★★★★
Stunning in scope and daring in appearance, Blaenavon have been teasing themselves for quite a while now. Spending years refining and experimenting with their sound, they seem to be a band who’ve been talked about or mentioned in breaths since they first emerged as spritely 16-year-olds. With each release, Blaenavon have laid out an extraordinary plethora of styles and swaggers – meaning nobody could really put a finger on exactly what Blaenavon were destined to be. Now with ‘That’s Your Lot’, they’ve laid their souls bare with a sublimely crafted album of bristling melodic swoons and gravity-defying moments that lines them out as a band who could become an influential force for a generation.
Variety crackles throughout, whether that’s the composed subtleties of ‘Let’s Pray’, the effortless charm of ‘Orthodox Man’ (complete with the soothing choral-like backing) or the dynamic yin and yang of ‘Alice Come Home’ and it’s delicate plucks merged with its tidal-wave esque explosion. That sort of balance plays a key part throughout, taking insular rawness and turning it into something of devastating beauty – unhinged, uncontrollable but undeniably true. ‘Prague 99’ is the classic Maccabees anthem the indie veterans wish they’d have written, with the ferocious outbursts of ‘I Will Be The World’, the jolting ‘Take Care’ and the swelling chills of ‘Swans’ all playing their part in a record which never sits in one place for too long. Vulnerability can be just as powerful when screaming at the wall or curled away with the blinds pulled – and that’s where Blaenavon strike hardest. They look into the abyss and aren’t afraid to lay out everything they see.
Rich, heart-breaking and defiant all in one swoop – ‘That’s Your Lot’ is a gorgeous tapestry painted with the bold, the fragile and the beautiful. They still can’t be boxed in or pinned down, and that’s just how Blaenavon want it. Jamie Muir
