Office Listening: The Horrors 'Luminous'

Image: The Horrors 

Ever since they emerged in 2005, The Horrors have purveyed a melting pot of sounds, starting out as grungey post punk rockers gradually honing a distinct brand of hazy psychedelia that seemingly brings out the best of front man Badwan's yearning smokey vocals.

Their previous album Skying achieved NME Album of the Year status, and arguably provided the turning point for The Horrors gradual progression into the electronic realm, where they've carved out their own unique brand of experimental shoegaze electronica, if you like.

Luminous, the bands latest long player, is an extension of that thought, with its cosmic leanings further extending the prophecy that the band are engaging in pastures new, reinventing themselves as electronic innovators with the music we've come to expect from them.

This notion gives them added opportunity to permeate club spaces which they've capitalised on by rolling out the 'Luminous Disco', reaffirming the bands suspected intentions.

The album itself delves into pastures old and new, piecing together hazy guitar that's been synonymous with the band since the old days alongside arcane synth notes and warped spacey elements that contribute to the experimental indulgences of their latest exploits. 

This impression is bottled up in the form of 'Chasing Shadows', an ethereal affair stemming from a tribal drum beat that breaks out into rapturous guitar.

Twin that up with Badwan's vocals carrying the words 'the morning will come but for now I'm with you', the sentiment takes you back to a state of hedonism that ceases to exist in the morning (interpret that as you wish), a synopsis that draws the comparison to their earlier work that'd be more likely to be found soundtracking a mosh pit.   

There is still plenty of evidence of The Horrors we used to know - despite the change in direction from the band they still posses a knack for a chorus that really gets in your head, you'll find that tracks like 'First Day Of Spring' and 'So Now You Know' will end up firmly embedded in your brain after a few listens, with the looping warped piano built over a crashing snare drum that accompanies the latter providing arguably the album's shining moment. 

Casting a keen eye over the bands development, its easy to see that the band have acquired a faultless taste in music, and even more so, as vinyl enthusiasts, the band are able to perpetuate that in their 'Luminous Disco' sets that incorporate anything from hip hop to house.

Given their diverse taste in music and apt name and demeanour towards Halloween, a disused prison in Lancaster becomes an idyllic backdrop for the band, a space that they'll soundtrack with their arsenal of wax on Friday 31st October, for the return of the celebrated club night A-Wing. Tickets for that here.  

Tickets are no longer available for this event