Album Review: The Strange Death Of Liberal England - Drown Your Heart Again

With such a grand name, its no surprise The Strange Death Of Liberal England have delivered an album that is filled with much grandeur; sweeping strings, bursting brass sections and more. From start to finish 'Drown Your Heart Again' leaves you feeling captivated and to an extent, overwhelmed.

Opening with 'Flickering Light', the Portsmouth group quickly settle you in with their adventurous brand of post-rock/indie, that is thoughtfully structured as they instantly draw you in. Whereas 'Flagships' is subtly heavy with a calmly delivered vocals and twinkling xylophone notes, whilst recent single 'Rising Sea' keeps the bands consistency and the bands comparisons to Arcade Fire are definitely evident here, as the bands mix of rock guitars, male-female vocals and orchestral instruments make up the bulk of the track.

Nevertheless 'Curtain Falling' sees the band being a bit more loose and energetic, as the band turn up the tempo, with spiralling guitars, running piano notes and a decent chorus. Whilst 'Lighthouse' sees the bands use of horns being mixed with a country-folk style, that fits in with the bands set up well. Then from there in you're left with a band that are now comfortable in their skin; 'Come On You Young Philosophers' is another lively, bouncy orchestra-led number, 'Yellow Flowers' is a slow, swooning track that is somewhat haunting and is overall captivating. Then finally 'Dog Barking At The Moon' sums up everything TSDOLE are, purely epic; a massive, grand singalong with celebratory horns to top it off.

'Drown Your Heart Again' ends up being a record where its hard to pick out individual highlights. To understand the bands direction, and to appreciate its credibility, you have to listen to as it was intended to be, as a full-length. For a debut album, The Strange Death Of Liberal England have set the bar high for themselves, as this is a concise, superb record that will more than likely be on my own top ten albums come December. Whilst some may criticise the band for sounding like Arcade Fire, The Strange Death Of Liberal England pull off the grand, orchestral indie rock style brilliantly well.

5/5

'Drown Your Heart Again' by The Strange Death Of Liberal England is released on September 13th through Republic of Music.

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Official The Strange Death Of Liberal England website.

Sean Reid