Unglued Reviews

Brand Newā€™s second album Deja Entendu was a staggering watershed, building on the basic pop-punk foundation set by their debut Your Favourite Weapon to create an ambitious, layered follow-up that stretched the bandā€™s musical horizons while offering hooks that retained a link to the groupā€™s roots. This third album is an even more ambitious progression, leaving behind almost all punk influence and trading it in for taut, often understated indie rock (Not The Sun even nods to the dancefloor) favouring five-minute-plus songs.

I was underwhelmed at first ā€“ only The Archers Bows Have Broken bears much resemblance to anything on Deja Entendu (and is tucked away near the end of the album, its familiarity all the more surprising following a moody near-instrumental [titled only - -] which is one of the recordā€™s biggest departures.) But then again, Deja Entenduā€™s brilliance was all but unheralded, whereas this release had to bear the weight of expectation. Repeated listens have been kinder.

Opener Sowing Season alternates between pensive and passionate, and a frequent hallmark of the album is songs that present themselves as quiet and unassuming, only to either build in volume slowly (as on the cathartic Degausser or appealing Jesus), or suddenly roar loud and unexpected.

Singer Jesse Lacey hasnā€™t lost his flair for passionate melodrama (ā€?I used to pray like God was listeningā€¯) but wears his heart on his sleeve less often, and his vocals are often masked in the mix or their delivery.

Almost unrecognisable as the product of the same band as Your Favourite Weapon, The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me may lack the immediacy of earlier material but is however exquisitely crafted and grows in appeal with each subsequent listen.

Owen Heitmann