Deaf Havana - All These Countless Nights

Rating:

Another step on the way to fully understanding who Deaf Havana are.

For a band that nearly called it quits after their last album, you'd expect Deaf Havana to come out all guns blazing but 'All These Countless Nights' finds the band continuing to explore their sound with some of their biggest hits. From the Springsteen-style bravado of the last album 'Old Souls', the opener 'Ashes Ashes' works to bridge the two records with that familiar acoustically-driven style complimented by musings about being sick of the city and a big ol' chorus to boot. But, the beauty of 'All These Hopeless Nights' comes as Deaf Havana begin to push their sound with a more energised and focused approach as the grittier sound of 'Trigger' and the fizzing 'L.O.V.E' raise the bar early on.

The ironically-titled ballad 'Happiness' really slows the pace of the album but the band quickly find their bite again with blistering 'Fever' and the devastating 'Like A Ghost'. From there, the band explore their ever expanding sound, but it isn't until the single 'Sing' springs into life that the album feels back to its best. Closing out with the raw 'Pensacola, 2013', frontman James Veck-Gilodi finds that perfect balance between heartfelt and ferocious and it feels like classic Deaf Havana all over again.

Ultimately, 'All These Countless Nights' is an album of two halves. Deaf Havana still have no problem crafting some arena-sized rock bangers, but there is an obvious contrast between the hits and some of the album tracks.

For a 4th album, they still lack a definitive style, but when they get it right, they're undoubtedly one of the best British rock bands around. 'All These Countless Nights' seems to be another step on the way to fully understanding who Deaf Havana are. Alexander Bradley