Featuring a mixture of songs they've been playing for years and some brand new ones, Love In The 4th Dimension is a gorgeous example of their talent.
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Having toured with VANT, The Maccabees, and The Vaccines in 2015 before signing to Fiction Records and getting playlisted by BBC Radio 1 in 2016, on their debut album The Big Moon starts and stays strong as Juliette Jackson croons over some intricate riffs and drumrolls in an early Libertines/classic Britpop fashion. For its entire duration, Love In The 4th Dimension encapsulates this raw, emotional urgency and, in a way, reflects the pace of their career right now.
There’s just nothing about the record that isn’t uplifting and catchy, from the chorus defiance of ‘Formidable’ to the amount of fun it’s clear they had whilst recording it, oozing out of every inch. The production is full of energy, the writing is tight, and Jackson’s vocals are as strong as they are distinctive. It’s just beautiful pop at its best, and even if I wanted to find a fault with this album I don’t think I could. Its remastered single ‘Sucker’ renders Jackson’s voice sharp; ‘Bonfire,’ though different to the lead singles, is a blast of pure energy by way of a bit of a rocky experiment. ‘Silent Movie Susie’ presents incredible harmonisation from the other three over Jackson, and it’s clear why it became an early single: simply, it’s completely, entirely them.
Love In The 4th Dimension can indeed be criticised for just redoing old material, however its contents serve as a brilliant showcase of where they currently are as a band. The title track carries an almost eerie feel from its gorgeous bassline and harmonies, and choruses throughout are huge, just as we are accustomed to and crafted for a sold-out venue to sing back. In the best way possible, you can tell the album was recorded in just 12 days – it’s tight, cohesive, and every song merges nicely into the next without being a blur. Each cut has its own distinctive qualities to separate it from the rest.
This album is certainly a slight nostalgic throwback to a late ’90s/early ’00s sound that works so well with their euphoric noise and delightful lyrics. Even as the album comes to its end with the honestly-titled ‘The End,’ there is no break as growing drum beats collapse into crashing excitement and ‘ooohs’ and riffs so fantastic that I’m horrifically excited to see what album two will bring. If they’ve come this far so quickly, there’s no telling where they’ll go next.
Love In The 4th Dimension is out now via Fiction Records
