Motion Picture Soundtrack - The Shapes We Fear Are Of Our Own Album Review

A rather astonishing piece of alt-rock, a marvellous achievement for a debut record. Haunting strings and mid-90's Radiohead all the way for this one; this type of thing is rarely carried off to such a high standard. The only other band I can really think of doing this at this level at the moment is As Tall As Lions, and the fact that I'm not sure which is better should be testament to this record's brilliance.

A few U2-tinged singles punctuate the record spasmodically, but apart from that, it's pretty epic from start to finish- from the resonance of the piano in the intro to I Clipped Your Wing to the eight minute plus final track When The Lights Go Out. Speaking of singles, they're still brilliant in spite of their eagerness to perform. The only problems I have are extremely narrow; an overindulgence in drama can lead to a diminished impact following repeated listening, but it still stands up a hell of a lot better than most.

Without researching the band, I would have placed this firmly in Boston along with the now defunct Receiving End of Sirens and The Dear Hunter; I was very surprised to learn that they hail from Canterbury, where I live. This, if anything, is even more reason to buy the album.

Do it.

Conrad Hughes