By Monk
When a friend whom you respect and admire, not least for their discerning musical taste, recommends that you check out a new band, it is the least you can do, out of that respect and admiration, to do so… which is exactly how I first encountered West Midlands stoner crüe Red Spektor, when my good friend, and photographer extraordinaire, Simon Dunkerley mentioned they were playing one of the minor stages at one of the myriad Hard Rock Hell festivals we have both attended over the years… to say that I was impressed would be something of an understatement. As a result, both myself and the entire ÜR team have been keeping a close eye on the trio’s development ever since – which brings us neatly to this, their stunning second album…
‘Heart Of The Renewed Sun’ is one of those albums that, from the opening crunch of the majestic ‘Wallflower’ to the last crumbling second of ‘Ivory Towers’, grabs you instantaneously and doesn’t let go of your aural cortexes, your heart, your soul – and indeed, your nether regions – for its duration, and beyond. This is one of those albums that pulls at your heartstrings as much as it hypnotizes you, drawing you into its rich yet simple lusciousness with the infectious effectiveness of a bug in a student dorm.
Part of the album’s attraction lies in its creators’ uncompromising approach to doing things the old school way: valve-driven amplifiers and recording reel-to-reel undoubtedly add not just to the genuine honesty of the sound, but also its warmth, creating a listening experience best suited to late evening sessions with a roaring fire, a bottle of spiced rum and the stereo cranked up to maximum (rather than with the last vestiges of autumnal afternoons streaming through the skylight, which are the conditions in which I am writing these humble words!).
And while the album contains plenty of long meandering musical passages of the sort that you would expect from the style of psychedelia-infused classic stoner which RS purvey, it is also one which is tightly focussed, precise enough to always bring the ambling instrumental sections back to the core essence of the songs involved. The album’s natural energy also gives it an equally natural flow, with each track easing gently and logically into the next, with no major stylistic jumps or jarring juxtapositions to ruin the momentum, something which so many bands get so badly wrong, feeling that an impromptu dose of thrashy nonsense after a long, winding series of jazzy inflections is an appropriate mood-changer when, as RS consistently prove through this opus magnus, nothing could be further from the truth.
‘Heart Of…’ is a further consolidation of RS’s growing reputation as one of the top echelon acts on the ÜK psych/doom/stoner doom, and it will be a hard, if not impossible, album for many of their counterparts to match never mind surpass. A sublime offering.
‘Heart Of The Renewed Sun’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
www.facebook.com/redspektorband
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.