Two years later, and we're back at it again. Boston Manor are back with the other side of 2022's Datura, an album I absolutely adored when it came out. Not only was it perfectly gritty and volatile, it had some of the most inspired instrumentation choices of the year, all with this dark digital undercurrent. Now, Sundiver promises a return to this same universe, but on the brighter and sparkly side of Boston Manor's range. If Datura was in the span of a night Sundiver is said to be it's morning after. Boasting a relatively short 36 minute runtime, this album promises a lot from this band, a fresh perspective on their own signature style, breathing new life from the five piece into pastures unknown. I'm not going to put it off any further, here's my track by track breakdown and review of Boston Manor's new record Sundiver:
1. Datura Dawn - 3:22
This track clearly represents the go between from the dark Datura to this new bright identity. Definite themes of that different side of the coin in both it's opening wildlife centred soundscape and the later lyrics. The definite 'there', and the brand new 'now'. It’s flashy, glowing, smooth and atmospheric, but with that mild Datura undertone, those techno tapping's just remind you of the journey you’ve already made, and remind you of the new one you're embarking on. It hits this almost crescendo, with these strange smashing drums and scratched strings, it’s an awesome sound that’s both really haunting but also brilliantly illuminating - it’s walking that dichotomy perfectly.
2. Container - 3:06
You know I love it when the last track bleeds into the next, it means artists have made tracks that are meant for the album experience - and there's one included here, as Datura (Dawn) morphs into Container. All parts volatile, introspective, and unpredictable, Container is a tour de force of this amazing new sound from Boston Manor. The chorus brings the guitar centric verse into a new fleshed out dimension, with solid heavy hitting drum grooves and an impressive vocal performance from Henry Cox. Full of that signature attack and growing and grooving in a way only Boston Manor can, this track is a distilled look at this brand new concept. Still brilliantly paced and full of those signature scalpel precise breakdowns, just with a brand new façade of morning after glow.
3. Sliding Doors - 3:26
Possibly one of the heaviest BM chorus' to date, Sliding Doors is a brooding and violent track, with crunchy guitar and some of the most hardcore extreme vocals from Henry Cox. It bleeds from the smooth doting verses into this beautifully anthemic chorus - it takes away and gives back so well that it keeps you on edge and listening with a really keen ear. The drum groove is also really perfectly complex (if that makes sense) with the hi hat and snare grooves oozing style as well as substance. Ash Wilson and Mike Cunniff are making those guitars work, they’re bending strings like they owe them money before slamming them back into those gorgeous choruses. Then straight back to the mania of a breakdown. If you want this band at their most perfectly polemic, this track is what you need.
4. HEAT ME UP - 3:45
Another perfect rager, HEAT ME UP is what Boston Manor does best. Its lyricism is sharp and precise, it’s got that magical bright feel to this new record alongside a solid hi hat beat. What more could you want? A solid bassline? Well, that bass sound that really weaves around the vocals and drums perfectly too. Yes fucking please. The chorus is just perfection too, with that brilliant vocal strain only Cox seems to have nailed down. The pre-chorus is also amazing, so perfectly complex and layered, there’s no stone unturned with the mix here and it’s a joy to listen to. That bridge too? Those layered sounds building back into the chorus? Wow. Goosebumps on the first listen, still goosebumps now. A highlight of this record for sure.
5. Horses in a Dream - 3:04
A much more foreboding sense opens up this track. Its bass is thick like tar, the drums shimmering around the insane effects on the guitars creating a pitch perfect tone from only a few seconds in. It has an undeniable groove to it that gets your head bouncing, and the stank face out and about. It sounds like something suited to a GTA game, it’s got that real style and almost classic R&B vibe to it - and that’s by no means a bad thing. It’s so different, yet works in this sunny new world Boston Manor have created. And again they bring the house down with the soundscapes, that mix is full to bursting with perfectly layered parts that enhance this track tenfold. It’s a real pleasure to hear, especially in the context with the rest of the record.
6. Morning Star - 2:00
I was very surprised by the opening here, it sounds more like a jungle track than anything else, but I know somethings about to hit, and sure enough, in come the delayed guitars. Boston Manor have their own way of bleeding their undeniable sound into their work, and here they’ve pushed their handprint into an entirely different direction of sound, but it has that same tinge of their identity. A fun go between, even if it's not adding all too much.
7. Why I Sleep - 3:10
And we’re back, and that’s guitar tone is bloody insane. Matched with a swinging drum beat and those intense vocals - and slap in a chunky bassline like that?? Stank face achieved. Chorus is clean and smooth, in the sense that I think it’s fucking awesome and hits every single note and phrase you'd want in a track like this one. The guitar is razor sharp, the sound is perfectly muddied but clear enough for you to dissect it whilst listening. Then the cut out back into the verse?? WOW! That use of silence for the impact is just masterful. This is a serious highlight. It oozes that signature BM, and brings that bright sound, but with this one it’s like seeing that sound through the reflection in a puddle. such a brilliantly crafted and executed piece of music.
8. Fornix - 3:53
Datura like synths get blasted away by some insanely brutal instrumentation here, and again stank face is out and about - this record is INSANELY well put together. That volatile song writing is back in force, with those sly cutting vocals underpinning the tone perfectly. There’s a brilliant pace to the instrumentation that lets those slower lyrics really float on the top of it - and it makes for such a brilliant dichotomy you’re drawn into once again, with similar vibes to the opener. This feels like a song that would be insane played live. That breakdown is just a pleasure to hear too. Full of wailing guitar and these injections of ride cymbal, it’s immense. It’s pure anthemic grandeur at its grittiest, and at the same time its finest.
9. Dissolve - 3:49
We’re back with the foreboding. The bass slams in, and with the added doubled vocal harmonies it does a perfect job at drawing you straight back in. It’s another leering piece of joy that I can’t get enough of. I’m speechless at the next section - there’s a pull back with that same R&B funk before it launches into the chorus, and my jaw just dropped. I genuinely exhaled in shock at how fucking amazing it sounds, and I got semi-instant goosebumps. This is another masterclass, it’s got that same direction, that same sparkle, but with something completely new, taking small influences from all the previous tracks to create this awesome rounded out sound. It’s dialled down in only the ways that let the rest of this song shine, like the synths that add that brilliant sonic texture and make the instrumental so damn good. I enjoyed this song so much that I didn’t even think about writing things about it I liked. I just closed my eyes and experienced it. That’s what you need to do with this song.
10. What is taken, Will never be lost - 3:40
Acoustic guitar? Yes please. There's something a little different in this one, and I’m loving the new angle here. The drum machine in the background is also different, but when placed against the very natural sound of the acoustic plucking, it’s again that dichotomy that breeds beauty within this record. The bass added in the chorus adds some amazing, adding more of that perfectly brooding low end grunt to the mix that absolutely fucks. It’s a breeding ground for analogue and digital sounds, these weird synth sounds and effects set to that plucked refrain. It’s brilliant, and breathes atmosphere in their signature way whilst walking the line between their dusk and dawn identities.
11. DC Mini - 3:25
I’ve seen Heriot live, and they were awesome, so when I saw this was a feature I was very excited, and interested to see where this went. We’re back to that volatile sound, that brooding bass and splashy hi-hat bringing you straight back into the fray. Cox is flexing his awesome vocal range, and it hits a chorus that oozes that atmosphere, with wailing guitar and Heriot’s vocalist Debbie Gough's voice underpinning that of Cox both subtly and perfectly. Then in comes Gough, with those raging extreme vocals in the final third, adding some brilliant edge to the mix. As a closer, this one holds up amazingly. It brings everything amazing about this record together in a tight little bow. That brooding grunt, that sparkly and glittering tone, and that electric influence. Perfection.
Overview: Wow. Boston Manor have done it once again, with an insanely well made record that does both everything it does well, and pushes the boat out into this brand new feeling. Sundiver represents this band both at their most daring, injecting this new feeling into their music with this brand new brighter tone, but also their most conducive, and convincing of their insane talent and dedication to their craft. If you were ever a sceptic, Sundiver is sure to show you this band has something to say in every single aspect - and it's found it's firm way into one of my favourite records of this year. Well done Boston Manor, just when you think things can't get much better, a record like this comes to open your eyes to the fact that exciting new music is always around the corner.
Highlights: Container, HEAT ME UP, Horses In a Dream, Why I Sleep, Dissolve
Rating 10/10
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