When thinking of Essex nowadays it is easy to picture young, skimpily-clad, fake tan wearing ladettes and juvenile boys who also indulge in their fair share of fake tan application. However, somewhere, hidden in the shadows, away from the peroxide blonde hair and abominable nose jobs is a group of five young men quietly sitting in a basement composing some of the best music this century has produced. This five-piece band refer to themselves as The Horrors and they have just released their second album Primary Colours.
When they first arose with their debut album Strange House, The Horrors were branded by NME as the best new band in Britain. However it was hard to think of what to expect from a follow up album. After all, it seemed that they had milked the post-punk, garage rock cow dry of all of its black gothic-infused milk. However, under the watchful eye of new producer, Geoff Barrow, The Horrors have civilised their original sound to create Primary Colours bringing a new dynamic to the Essex-based 5-piece’s sound. Ben Thomson of The Guardian successfully describes this new sound in his review (found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/19/the-horrors-primary-colours-review) as a cross between the ethereal sound of My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Soon’ and the post-punk spew of 70’s gothic rock band Bauhaus. Yes, The Horrors have been reborn and along with their typical skinny jeans and gothic genes comes an afterbirth of ambience. Primary Colours demonstrates how The Horrors have matured from the eye-liner wearing, dress-up band they used to be, and although the debut album Strange House was an exciting album, Primary Colours is an eagerly awaited and much needed change for the band. Despite the shock of this new direction for the group, this new sound was inevitable.
The Horrors kick off their new sound with 'Mirror’s Image'as the first track. The soft glowing synth pad introduces us to the album along with bell chimes adding to the new atmospheric feel that The Horrors have now adopted. We are then led into the main riff of the song and the easily-recognised bass guitar sound that was so common in Strange House is awakened. Yet, this time, rather than being accompanied by the organ and punk guitar that can be heard throughout the debut album, the bass is joined by a guitar sound that echoes a similar drone to the electric guitar in The Smiths song 'How Soon is Now’. When the singer, Faris Badwan, then comes in with his first lyrics “Is it the way, Is it the way she looks at you”, the original Horrors sound is recognisable through his almost-monotone, laid-back voice however, something is different. The Horrors have grown up. The layering of instruments build up the song to create a wall of gothic sounds through the arpeggiating synth and varied guitar sounds.
A review on Sputnik music (found here: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/31393/The-Horrors-Primary-Colours/ ) helps explain how the looping guitar effect and synthesiser help create a hypnotic effect that continues throughout the song without structuring like a usual track would. It’s gradual beginning, looping of hypnotic layers and fade-out ending makes 'Mirror’s Image’ a perfect first track as it instantly acquaints you with what Primary Colours has in store as an album. Elements of Strange Housecan be heard through the bass, drums and Faris’ easily-recognised voice however, the feeling of wonder you are left with when 'Mirror’s Image'dies out teaches you this album will not have the raw, gritty, punk feel you’d expect from the writers of Strange House.
We are reminded of The Horrors gothic influence as the second track 'Three Decades’ is introduced through dissonant chords and an aggressive drum pattern. The influence of Geoff Barrows production techniques can be heard in the vocals. When Farris begins to sing, a second, echoed vocal follows his singing. The long attack on this second vocal part gives the piece a ghoulish, sweeping feel. Small yet significant layers such as this show the care that has gone into Primary Colours to make it such an impressive album by the band.
The single, 'Who Can Say’, follows as the third track and is one of the catchiest on the album (as argued on a review in Sputnik music linked earlier). It starts more upbeat than the previous two tracks at around 140bpm to really launch us into the middle section of the album. During the breakdown of the song, we are encountered with the first hint of emotion that The Horrors have accommodated into any one of their songs when, quoting the Shangri-La’s song 'He Cried’, Faris speaks “And then I kissed her, With a kiss that could only mean goodbye”. Ben Thompson explains in his review for The Guardian how this expression of emotion may be related to Faris’ on/off relationship with Peaches Geldof. The inclusion of this emotion, again, gives the impression of a maturity in the band. When compared to their debut album, where they sing about murderous villains, the death of punk rock and death in general, rather than true emotions, we can see that Faris has become more comfortable within the band and the band itself have found their comfort zone. Band members Joshua Third and Tom Cowan explain in an interview (found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4-hsHgJCg0&list=HL1357989945) how important they feel it is to allow emotion to run through an album as it will encapsulate the feeling of the record. Emotion has flown through this album and it feels so right. Martin Robinson explains in a review for NME (found here: http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-horrors/10407 ) how the obvious reference to the Shangri-Las (and also, despite not being referenced in this review, the Ronettes 'Be My Baby’ style drums) shows The Horrors’ influence’s laid bare. This however, Robinson feels, has been done in a natural and fresh way in order to bring real interest into the song.
'Do You Remember’ kicks in with a euphoric riff to create a masterful sing along song that will become popular for concerts and will fill festival tents. We are then reintroduced to The Horrors Strange House sound through the following track 'New Ice Age’ as they shake hands, once again, with their beloved organ. 'Scarlet Fields’ hypnotic introduction is created through the angelic pads and pulsating synths to lead us into a stripped back slower song with a verse using simply bass, drums and vocals that builds up to an explosive, spellbinding chorus. The track all builds up to a gorgeous ending where Faris starts to sing in an almost inaudible, mumbling voice echoing the easily recognisable riff of Joy Division’s ’Love Will Tear Us Apart’ which repeats beautifully with the amazingly designed synthesis to finish a magnificent, psychedelic masterpiece.
Martin Robinson (in his review for NME ) describes 'I Only Think Of You’ perfectly using the words “drone ballad”. The synthesised strings sound that slightly detune in parts throughout the piece entice the ears. It seems The Horrors have not only mastered the punk sound, but they have now mastered the art of the love song and these two sounds meet and caress each other sensually through this track for an amazing 7 minutes. After such an aggressive album like Strange House, it was hard to imagine The Horrors progressing in the direction they have done and when listening to Primary Colours it is still hard to believe that the same band recorded both albums despite their subtle similarities. As said in a review for Contact Music (found here: http://www.contactmusic.com/album-review/the-horrors-primary-coloursx30x03x09), this change in style seems unnatural, however, the arrogant frame of mind that the group seem to perform with throughout Primary Colours suggests otherwise. The band seem just as comfortable performing songs such as 'I Only Think Of You’ as they do in performing 'Sheena Is A Parasite’. Where it could have been argued after their debut that these were a band of one trick ponies, 'I Only Think Of You’ alone shows that The Horrors have added many new strings to their bow. A bow that was often off of target now hits the bullseye every time as if shot by a Bauhaus-loving, Robin Hood.
Despite the beautiful sense of comfort that has been portrayed through the album so far, it is somewhat let down by the following song 'I Can’t Control Myself’. Although we are introduced into the song through a catchy riff, the repetition of this riff grows tiring very quickly as Faris echoes the melody to create a rather tedious track overall. With a similar guitar progression, it feels they have attempted their own rewrite of Spiritualized’s 'Come Together'however, doing it no justice. Where the original song features tasty guitar licks and a gospel choir, The Horrors version seems to get rather monotonous. In spite of this, the guitarist, Joshua Third’s contribution to the track and his solo is rather impressive and almost acts as a cure to heal the scars left by the rest of the track. The bluesy demeanour of the short yet much-needed solo expresses the skill that Third attains. Thirds hidden talent is spoken of in an interview (found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlFZYk0xgn8) and it tells us how he hand-built his guitar pedals and other equipment that has given this album its “futuristic feel”. Third explains how rather than “hurt your ears” like they had done with Strange House, The Horrors felt the need to “smother” their listener with Primary Colours and so he felt the need to build his own equipment in order to generate a new sound.
'Primary Colours’, the track that shares the albums name, is the penultimate song and it’s a beauty. Kicking off with an elated tone and upbeat rhythm, we are faced with The Horrors most pop-like track yet. Joshua Third’s work on the guitar’s effect and manipulation can be heard clearly as it becomes difficult to tell the difference between guitar and synthesiser. We are even blessed with what seems like the rare sound of a happy, upbeat Faris Badwan! As soon as it kicks in it is clear that this song is going to be an instant crowd pleaser. The almost cocky pop feel to the song is a perfect example of how Primary Colours as an album reaches out to a broader target audience as Faris and his band of misfits open their large medieval doors to a wider variety of musical taste.
The album is drawn to an end with the 8 minute epic that is 'Sea Within A Sea’. Cooly introduced with the drums and bass, we are gently chaperoned to the end of Primary Colours through an ominous corridor filled with ghoulish undertonesto be smoothly uplifted by an arpeggiated synth into a liberating wave of floating grandeur. Left with a feeling of fulfilment, the song fades out to end an overall exquisite album.
Shortlisted for the Mercury Prize award in 2009 and being named the best album of the year by NME, shows the success that ensued after the release of Primary Colours. So how is it that The Horrors succeeded at making such an inventive, ground-breaking and original follow up album? The adoption of a new producer, in the form of Geoff Barrow, was highly influential in the making of the album. In an interview with The Horrors at the Mercury Prize Awards (found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqp0qCanJNE), Rhys Webb, who plays the bass for the band, explains how they were searching for a producer who was always “trying new things” and they felt that Geoff Barrow fit that description. Rhys continues to explain how the relaxed way they and Geoff approached the album created a “natural” yet “magical” feel.
Tomethy Furse originally played bass guitar on the Strange House album in place of Webb, who played the synthesisers for the debut. This switching of roles may explain why Primary Colours seems to give off a completely different style to its predecessor. Rhys suggests in an interview (found here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ElF16r8mQ) that the outcome of Primary Colours was different to Strange House due to the fact that the band themselves were much more open to the idea of using new instruments, attempting a new sound and generally having more time.
Rhys goes onto explain how the band felt inclined to 'explore sound’ and the influence of Joshua Third (guitarist) and his love of physics would have contributed to this. The bands innovative approach to the album has contributed in numerous ways in order to seal this record in gold.
Overall, Primary Colours is a gem of an album. It shows the maturity of a group quickly developing into something incredible as if a post-punk fanatic caterpillar had spent a summer with Geoff Barrow in a cocoon to later become a butterfly with patterns designed by sound itself. Coffin Joe’s drumming boasts confidence and fidelity to punk, Rhys Webb’s chatty arrogance is revealed through his cocky bass, Tom Cowan’s synthesisers bring an aerial feel, Joshua Third’s guitar proves this band as individual and sleek and Faris Badwan, the pied piper of emo kids everywhere, leads the frontline with his hard-hitting, baritone voice. The skills contributed from each of these Essex boys is melted together to create something truly magical. This 5 piece, has strayed from being individual musicians, to evolving into a band. From start to finish I have been amazed by the precision and care that has been taken to push this album to its creative limit. Each band member sharing the same mind set on what they wanted to achieve and they have well and truly achieved it. Primary Colours is, without a doubt, an inspirational album fuelled by a true love for real music.
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