Wild Beasts - "Smother"

Artist: Wild Beasts
Album: Smother
Label: Domino Recording Company
Release Date: May 10, 2011
Review by: Sean Kayden

Wild Beasts make their ceremonious return with, Smother; the band’s third and most accomplish work to date. On their previous record, “Two Dancers”, the band demonstrated their buoyant, unorthodox, and sexually idiosyncrasy side. This time around, Wild Beasts present a much mellower, focused approach to their unconventional elegance. Instead of simply attempting to recapture the magic of past efforts, the UK quartet dive head first into an ocean of uncharted musical territory. Smother is dazzling, vividly trenched with imagery and transcendental. This is a monumental achievement for a relatively under-the-radar band that continues to push the envelope with each record. Their undeniably boundless talents are once again exhibited in such a stellar, uncompromising, and poignant way.

With Smother, washed away is both their old quirkiness and outrageousness leading to a more mature, austere demeanor. One cannot help, but sense that their overall soundscape has become so divined, graceful, and endearing. Wild Beasts features two singers, Hayden Thorpe, who parades such seductive intonations and bassist Tom Fleming, whose voice is much deeper and masculine than his counterpart. Despite the contrast, their vocals blend seamlessly well together. In the standout track, “Invisible”, Fleming’s vocals are on full display. “The things I thought I'd want/They vanish one by one” is sung in a painstakingly wailing sort of manner. It’s not foolishly sentimental, but deeply affecting and presented reflectively. With the other gem, “Reach A Bit Further”, Thorpe and Fleming share the center stage, dishing out gorgeous vocal arrangements back and forth with the end results being irrefutably superb.

Smother is tightly produced, atmospheric and a grand showcase of utter originality and creativity beyond the means of anything currently polluting the airwaves. Such brilliance and bravado are soaked within the confines of this record. The album will speak volumes to you in ways most compilations could only imagine to ever do. The heart and pulse of Smother beats methodically, gently, and cautiously. However, there is always a sense of impending doom on the horizon. A feeling of something imploding feels very close on the verge. To listen to the album in its entirety (the way it should be experienced) will place you on a voyage of awe and wonder. It unravels slowly, but what becomes fleshed out is something persuasively beautiful, terrifyingly imaginative, and artistically innovative. Wild Beasts are simply more than just a band to watch out for. This is an ensemble that continually cultivates inventive music with such significance and intrepidness. Not only does it set them apart from the others, but also clearly puts them ahead by leaps and bounds.

Key Tracks: “Invisible”, “Reach A Bit Further”, “Burning”, and “End Come Too Soon”
Grade: 9.2 out of 10

Published on May 21, 2011 by Mountain Views News
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n21/p09.htm