“As the Earth began to fade I saw you levitate.”
Shoegaze has been in perpetual renaissance since its inception. Enduring interest in the ‘classic’ bands such as Slowdive, Ride, and Whirr is to be expected. What’s more surprising is that audiences are fervently connecting with the even less marketable stuff. My Bloody Valentine, Duster, Have A Nice Life, and Parannoul ought to confuse most on a first try, yet the modern, young audiences seem to connect with rough production and bold choices even more. Whether this surge has driven Blanket to specialise in the dreamier end of their established sound is unknown, but it’s well-timed.
Blanket have been a UK post hardcore mainstay since their 2021 sophomore record Modern Escapism. Bouncing around labels between Music for Nations and Church Road Records, Church Road Records they’re working with Adventure Cat Records for True Blue. It brings a noticeable shift towards ‘gaze’, as if the band woke up to a perpetually sunny yet cold day to find all the reverb pedals frozen on “11”.
The band tunes up their fuzz orchestra with intro “The Shallows Reflecting On The Water”, then throws us into this gentle realm on “Hole In My Head”. Led by the genre mainstays of whisper-sung vocals and trustworthy beat patterns, it’s a lovely ride. Pieces like “Wallflower” border dream pop with their velvety leads over the quite danceable verses, and the addition of synths on “Hole In My Head”’s loftiest moments are the shoegaze equivalent of twisting the knife.
It should also go without saying that this is a band that plays hard, and True Blue holds that duality carefully. Each track quickly finds its heavy stride, a volume that Blanket have always been comfortable commanding. To make these glassy atmospheres it takes rhythm guitars that smashing out beefy chords, an all engrossing low end, and a hit-as-hard-as-you-can attitude to the drums. It’s like, well, a blanket, spread across a bed of nails that life bids you to walk over. Depending on the moment you find yourself in, you might perceive the sound as heavy, light, or both; an admirable quality.
When taking rock towards a more blurred sound, the focus on traditional hooks falls away. No problem for Blanket – Sam Bloor’s production is plenty to hold attention – and they find some ways to land some memorable moments. Closer “True Blue” has the most fetching chorus, with “Hole In My Head” and “Levitate” coming in close second. The instrumental hooks are more important than ever with such sedate vocals, but put together it’s highly effective.
Blanket have all but departed from their debut’s strongly dual voiced approach, save for one key moment. On “Summer Skin”, Lynsey Ward of Exploring Birdsong adds another heavenly vocal texture to the choruses, and the close of the track contrasts this with some screams which bubbling up from beneath the wall of sound. Blanket really knows how to sign off these tracks for maximum impact – unsurprisingly, with a climactic wall of sound – allowing the following piece to become an aftermath in a repeating cycle.
“Leaning On You” makes for a break from these heavy tracks. It’s a curious waltz that dips into chords that feel unexpected at times, feeling more Radiohead or David Gilmore than the band ought to. It’s an effective structural pillar for the album, but not an all-timer interlude (in the shoegaze territory there’s tough competition there).
A small caveat of True Blue is its length. Thirty-five minutes is a tidy, focused runtime that won’t waste any listener’s time, and is on par with Ceremonia. Yet the newfound focus on the dreamy end of their sound leaves me surprised when the record wraps up so soon. With almost a year of lead time on the first single “Levitate” those following the band could feel especially short-changed. This latter point won’t matter to new listeners, but still, one or two more songs would match expectations with records of this kind.
Upon its release, we found Ceremonia to be a mixed bag. That’s not true for True Blue, whose six heavy tracks demonstrate Blanket on top form. They’re visiting a new, smoother sound, whilst keeping all their post hardcore elements sharp, making for a strong addition to their discography and a solid step in their evolution.
7.5/10
True Blue releases through Adventure Cat Records on the 16th January and can be pre-ordered here.