The latest album from Blank Realm may be their most accessible, but Illegals In Heaven doesn’t exactly ease you in. Ragged licks of guitar introduce the impulsive, vicious opener No Views On It; a no-apologies submission to the visceral pull of their music. The chorus, “I got no views on it/ It’s just something that I do”, is chanted by siblings Daniel and Sarah Spencer, and it could well be the band’s mantra.
Overseen by producer Lawrence English, Illegals In Heaven carefully contains the band’s music without losing their manic energy.
Illegals In Heaven features a greater range of songs, which creates a more layered whole. After starting with the heaviest song, they move into what would traditionally be considered the obvious single, River of Longing. It’s romantic, melodic, primal, and an instant classic. The tempo drops right down for acoustic ballad Dream Date, and Cruel Night has weeping slide guitars and something of a Mazzy Star vibe. Blistering noise-pop returns in the form of fuzzed-out guitar and bashed xylophone keys on the riotous Costume Drama.
Flipping the record over to side-B, any assumptions that River Of Longing is the album’s biggest charmer are challenged by a stunning twinset of power pop songs, Flowers In Mind and Palace Of Love. Sandwiched in between them is the gorgeous Gold, pulling Sarah into the spotlight as lead vocalist. It’s a great standalone track, but also adds to the dynamics of this well-balanced collection.
The vocals get wrapped up in the music’s frenetic energy, so it can be hard to grasp the lyrical subject matter. The common theme seems to be outsiders in love, finding joy and energy within the complex confines of their ‘palace of love’. Positive energy is exhausted completely by the final track, Too Late Now. It’s an eerie, disorientated stagger through psychedelic, shoeless sounds. Bleak and murky, Too Late Now echoes some of their earliest recordings and is a raw, emotive close to the album.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
