Balance and Composure : Light We Made
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Balance and Composure : Light We Made

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Balance and Composure produced one of the best records of 2013 (The Things We Think We’re Missing), so Light We Made has high expectations to capitalise on that good will. Dreamier than their previous efforts, pained screams are swapped for echoed crooning and stumbling undercurrents. First single Postcard is an appropriate warning sign for the rest of the album, even if it only hits during the halfway point. Although fans clambered to voice their outrage on its lack of raw percussion and mumbled vocals, there’s more than enough impact to quell the drama on Spinning and Mediocre Love.

Replacing the emotional outreach of The Things We Think We’re Missing is absolute numbness. Simmons paints a stumbled, hazy night whilst hiding behind cold synths and a driving guitar line on For A Walk. Even if the lyrics are mostly unintelligible, the instrumentals speak for themselves. When his voice is prominent, Simmons continues his run as one of the industry’s most underrated lyricists. Without his bandmates, the simplicity of lines like “The left one wants what the right one’s got,” would ring hollow. With them, it’s a melancholic gut-punch. As it is, these songs are destined for a soundtrack of staring out a rain-speckled windshield.

Fake outs are rife, beginning with ambient noise in Fame until the bass punches through. “Singing is the reason I don’t need to be saved,” says Simmons.  For the record we’ve just gone through, that might not be so clear. References to drinking and the overall feeling seems like there’s an underlying element that hangs rather than is embraced. But if this is Balance and Composure’s experimental phase, then let’s throw a tab on the tongue and see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

BY JONTY SIMMONS