The cover of The Horror’s third album, Skying, is no less whimsical than the psychedelic opening track, Changing The Rain. It’s vaguely danceable with a decidedly British rainy-day ambience permeating the blissed-out drone.
Endless Blue is a head-turner. It builds from a lush, chilled-out instrumental layer cake of sound to a fun, brit-pop explosion, albeit at the 1:40 mark. It’s about as fiery as the album gets but is an example of the fascinating mix of genre and influence that the chameleon-like Horrors have cultivated.
On that note, I should mention that Skying is a continuation of The Horrors’ tendency to hone in on different sounds for each album. The goth-punk of their 2007 debut Strange House was replaced by a much more shoegazey aesthetic for 2009’s Primary Colours. However, beneath their mimic-like façade, The Horrors are a versatile group of lads with the ability to channel the best of certain eras and genres, using them to their advantage to produce some unique material.
Monica Gems exemplifies this with its ethereal guitar slurs which leap to electro-pop choruses, all wrapped up with Badwan’s obsequious vocals. Similarly captivating are tracks such as I Can See Through You, Still Life (lead single), and closer Oceans Burning. As a whole, Skying is a well-constructed, idyllic musical foray into new territory for The Horrors.
Best Track: Still Life
If you like this you’ll like: TEARS FOR FEARS, PSYCHEDELIC FURS
In a word: Oceanic
