My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe

This album is bonkers and completely committed to it. Cameron Picton’s first outing post–black midi doesn’t ease you in or explain itself; it barrels forward on theatricality and demands you keep up.

Revenge fantasy opener ‘Target Practice’ is phenomenal, pairing pristine, almost stately instrumentation with entirely unsettling lyrics. “Don’t cry, you deserve this” has a chill that cuts straight through the jaunty delivery, setting up a record that delights in that contrast: beautiful presentation, deeply dark ideas. It’s dramatic in a way that fully buys into its own heightened reality.

‘In the Blink of an Eye’ embraces a twitchy, paranoid energy; it’s gripping, even when you’re not entirely sure what’s going on. The arrangements across the record are consistently stunning, with strings and acoustic instrumentation swelling and collapsing.

‘Love Story’ cuts through with a different kind of intensity. It’s tender and emotionally direct, but still grounded in those strange, hyper-specific details (“I’m soaking beans on the side”, “I’m feeling sexy tonight”) that make it both sincere and faintly ridiculous. 

Even ‘Actress’ - over eight minutes, usually a red flag - gets away with it here, carried by lines like “You’re breathing oxygen, but it doesn’t make it to your brain”.

That balance is a real achievement. It’s maximal and baffling, but never half-hearted. Picton throws everything at it and commits fully, and that conviction carries the whole thing. Whether it gets full marks or not probably depends on how far you’re willing to follow him - but if you do, it’s a wild ride.