The quartet’s sophomore album, Euphoric Heartbreak, displays the epic differences between recording one’s debut album at Brooklyn Recording Studios, New York, and its follow-up at a beach house studio in Santa Monica, California. Their debut album’s reverb-drenched noise-pop and anthemic emoting have been injected with a sky-scraping majesty and an even greater sense of shameless candour on Euphoric Heartbreak.
Allan’s fixation with Blade Runner‘s post-apocalyptic theme has inspired the album’s futuristic exploration via incandescent, albeit eerily mystical, sonic soundscapes. Sonically, Euphoric Heartbreak is defined by Allan’s soaring-into-the-stratosphere vocals, bold synth-laden textures, and vibrant dream-pop flourishes, as exemplified by Shine Like Stars and Whatever Hurts You Through The Night (in the latter, the tale of two women fleeing the trappings of their fear-ridden past summons a cathartic potency).
Two of the most moving and emotional tracks on the album are Stronger Than Dirt (Homosexuality, Pt. 2) and I Feel Wrong (Homosexuality, Pt. 1). In the former, Allan’s mournful cry of “They say we’re sordid ’cause the way we walk and talk and flirt / They say we’re dirty / We’re stronger than dirt” is utterly heart-rending, while the latter captures the vulnerability of a young male who is painfully uncomfortable with his feelings. Indeed, I Feel Wrong‘s piercing honesty and stirring sensitivity prove a distinctive feat in the band’s career thus far. Glasvegas may be regarded for their heartfelt songs, but this gracefully articulated composition stretches their emotive palette into a new realm of relational and social awareness.
The shimmering melodic progressions of Euphoria, Take My Hand – the first single from their second album – recall Coldplay’sLife In Technicolour, but Allan’s heavily accented cry is as distinctive as ever. Euphoric Heartbreak ends with the poignant Change – a moving exchange between mother and son, which features Allan’s mother narrating the comforting words that a conflicted, detained son relies upon.
Euphoric Heartbreak is, without a doubt, a grandiose exploration of melancholy-pop. Glasvegas have never been champions of restraint and subtlety; their very essence is founded on the predication of being fearlessly expressive and emotionally candid. The Glaswegian quartet’s sophomore album features more wide-screen ethereal pop soundscapes than its predecessor, but the guitars still hiss behind the sheen of its lure. If the band’s debut album was the compelling portrait of suburban turmoil in Glasgow, then Euphoric Heartbreakencapsulates the broken soul roaming the bright streets of a deceptive modern paradise.
