By Georgia Smith
Scottish four-piece She Burns Red find not only their sound, but their messages of self-empowerment and togetherness on their self-released first album ‘Out of Darkness’, available 15 September. Following their earlier acclaimed EP, ‘Take Back Tomorrow’ in 2020, a Kickstarter campaign making this newest offering possible, and myriad personal challenges amid the Covid lockdowns, ‘Out Of Darkness’ takes us on the emotional journey and sets its resolution to these nine punchy, energetic tracks of quintessential guitar rock.
The bold, heavy opening track ‘Touch’ is an immediate punch of style, with lighter undertones that suggest this anthemic track will translate fantastically to the live performances that She Burns Red have already seen success with. At once confident and yet emotional, musing on abusive relationships and self-empowerment, dancing between the inarguably heavy and the catchy and playful, ‘Touch’ is the opening demonstration of skill and direction.
Later tracks ‘Heavy Is The Head’ and ‘Crack The Sky’ have this same heavy, anthemic promise- the dense rhythm of the guitars and made-for-rock gritty vocals, set behind anthemic choruses and multi-vocal richness. The blending of melody and heaviness on ‘Touch’ continues seamlessly into ‘Rise and Fall’, where the lighter riffs lend catchiness and punch to wrenching, gritty guitar solos. From the opening note, ‘Out Of Darkness’ is pure rousing, inarguable rock music.
The band’s lyrical and tonal direction is never more apparent than in tracks ‘Killing Time’ and ‘Run’, where more melancholic, softer phases overtake the catchy heaviness and allow the inspirations for the album to stand stronger. Based on personal struggles and the concepts of unhealthy relationships and loss of self, ‘Out of Darkness’ not only explores these themes in the isolation of pensive vocals and slower, quieter guitars in tracks like ‘Crosshairs’, but in the clear lyrical focus and forefronting of their lyrical influences and ideas in ‘Run’. Even the guitar solo – present and arresting in each track in turn, becoming an expected element in songs by She Burns Red – still twisting and tight, sounds more melancholic and pensive. This album’s slower, more emotionally-charged tracks lend the same lens not only to their lyrics and vocals, but the very technique of their instrumentals. Without being overly dark or excessively miserable, the band capture a presence of difficulty and search for meaning whilst maintaining their well-established heaviness, grittiness, and accessibility of their catchy choruses.
This effectively crafted range does not only apply to the album’s concepts, though ‘Crack The Sky’ and the farewell titular ‘Out of Darkness’ challenge the earlier musings on struggle with a call to togetherness, to personal elevation. Use of an almost choral sound through the multi-vocal backing in songs – most notably in ‘Crosshairs’ – create a cacophonic, layered sound that elevates the call for togetherness that the forefronted lyrics call for. The personality of the band and sound – both facets of the struggle and the redemption – shine through regardless of the direction of the track, with additions throughout of subtle electronic elements birthing an almost post-rock undertone, and occasional harsh vocals in arresting, repetitive and slow-building bridges mean that the journey this album takes is always interesting, always has the presence of some fresh and subtle personal spin.
Whether lamenting difficulties in their emotionally open tracks, or offering solutions in their more upbeat, catchy ones, She Burns Red have found the ideal rocky balance between the seriousness of their message and the freer enjoyment of the dense, rousing grit of their sound.
‘Out of Darkness’ makes effective use of almost metallic building bridges dropping back to rioting heaviness. ‘Stronger’ has what may be the heaviest drop of the album, a harsh snap from twisting, bendy guitars to a clean, quietly building bridge and back again. The final track ”Out of Darkness’ has its own series of heavy, stirring drops, and yet, almost in-keeping with the album’s ideas of self-empowerment, almost seems to drop ‘up’; where this punchy, slow-building sound breaks to become higher, lighter, more anthemic- as opposed to the earlier breakdowns into something heavier. The depth of the pairing between message and sound is masterful and notable, and to have it so stylistically successful in their final track elevates the empowered goodbye that it exists as.
The album gains its confidence as it continues, with the final three songs (‘Stronger’, ‘Crack The Sky’ and the focus track ‘Out Of Darkness’) offering some fight to the earlier suggestion of struggle and darkness. The distorted bass and collective shouted backing vocals in ‘Crack the Sky’ feel more experimental, a bold suggestion of the directions that the band have found open to them, and reminiscent of other post-rock styles. This confidence elevates their presence on the album, crafting their own edge with a denseness of sound and style. Regardless of technical diversity, experimentation, or tonal direction, ‘Out Of Darkness’ remains tight, effective, always rousing and uplifting.
The parting titular track, with its ‘drop-up’ style and confident vocals, the lyrical admission of difficulty but promise of the possibility of change, is as punchy as the album’s rockiest offerings, and as emotional as the softer ones. Polyphonic production, collective vocals and the archetypal She Burns Red free-running guitar solos have spread themselves into every nook and cranny of the album, and come to an empowering, head-banging end. “Don’t wait for me”, the lyrics ask atop their rich guitar and growling bass, but with this newest offering and all its twists and turns, She Burns Red can be sure that waiting for this album’s punch and its promise of anthemic translation into live performance will be the only thing on fans’ agendas.
- ‘Out Of Darkness’ is released on 15 September.
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