on the wrong day can irrevocably damage your perception of the art. Conversely, finding the right music at the right moment feels like alchemy.
So it was with ‘into a pretty room’, the fourth LP from lots of hands*, the Newcastle indie band which, on my first listening, perfectly reflected the feeling of the calm after the literal storm, following a weekend of battering wind, icy rain and thunderous electrical storms.
Album opener alive (not to be confused with Alive, the glitchy opening track of the same name from their 2020 debut Mistake) sets the tone beautifully. In a style which will be familiar to fans of Big Thief, it manages to be familiar and calming while remaining freeform and loose.
The internal conflict of the lyrics (“I’m just so scared…. I wanna be alive”) is kept so low in the mix that it feels more like immersion in a hazy dream than a proclamation.
There are many other familiar touchpoints throughout the 14 tracks featured. The frequent blending of acoustic guitars and retro synths is reminiscent of the early noughties production style found on albums such as Lowgold’s Just Backwards of Square and Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump. But enough invention and originality is on display to stop the album from ever feeling derivative.
While into a pretty room is no departure for fans of the band who have stayed largely true to their earlier work (they’ve been writing music together since the age of 16), this is undeniably a ‘level up’ moment. As evidenced by the outro of slow-burner game of zeroes, lots of hands are becoming experts in crafting moments of beauty and substance.
I’m very pleased I decided to spend some time in their pretty room.
(*yes, the lack of capitaliation is deliberate by the band, and my personal kind of nightmare – Ed)
Matthew Ambrose presents Under The Radar on Tuesday evening at 7pm on Abbey104. Broadcasting on 104.7FM and online at abbey104.com.
