It’s been six long years, but your favourite indie survivors, the Mystery Jets are back with their seventh LP, A Hole To See The Sky Through. They have a tough act to follow after 2020’s magnum opus; A Billion Heartbeats but rest assured the Eel Pie Islanders are back on fine form.
Self titled album opener is what they do best, dreamie indie pop with thoughtful lyrics and a belting chorus, it’s all so accessible you can’t help but get lost in the world they create. Black Sage is an anthemic belter where a heavier guitar sound comes to the fore not for the first time and speaks to the influence of guitarist Ollie Taylor.
Speaking of which, the lineup has shifted around a bit over the years, but Blaine Harrison still leads the band effortlessly but it’s always a group effort and the sound on this album definitely sounds a lot bigger than before.
Doomsday Waltz is a delightful ballad about the end of the world, MJs have never been afraid to sing about the big subjects and the track seems like a timely one. In fact frontman Harrison recently appeared on Channel 4 news to make an impassioned plea to Andy Burnham for more funding and energy for a forgotten music industry and to lead a push back on AI, a worthy cause.
Godrays is a standout track, fuzzier guitars and almost shoegaze which encapsulates the albums heavier sound, coupled with Harrison’s voice maintaining it’s delicate beauty, highlighted on Flea, means we get the best of both worlds.
Soul River is an achingly beautiful ballad ode to true love, with shining guitar work once again on an extended outro which is skating around a Country sound without ever going full cowboy hats
Anaglypta at 7 minutes long is my first knowledge of MJs going for an epic, it works because they’ve always been great storytellers big sound it works because it’s earnestness
The album book ends with part 2 of the title track closes out in funky style doing what they do best, big power choruses, pleasing harmonies, lyrics that make you think Sure they’re not reinventing the wheel but when you do what you do so well, why should you.
Mystery Jets are touring in November, you can find the details here.
Comments are closed.