New label - New aesthetic - New producer - With every iteration, our mettlesome Dubliners have evolved, returning reinvigorated and packed full of surprises and, this time, they’ve unravelled those comfy indie knits and have kitted themselves out with a whole new sonic wardrobe. Romance’, like all the best on-screen depictions, zigzags through emotions from song to song. Opening with the title track - one of the most ominous, industrial, exhilarating noises in the band’s history - we barely have time to catch our breath before we’re launched into the agitation of ‘Starburster’, the pop punk of ‘Here’s The Thing’ and then slowly submerged into the murky depths of ‘Desire’. ‘In The Modern World’ is the sound of Oasis and Blur finally hugging it out while ‘Motorcycle Boy’ is a reminder of where they’ve come from and ‘Sundowner’ further mines those shoegaze touchpoints first recced on ‘Skinty Fia’. Penultimate track, ‘Death Kink’, is a punchy covenant that leads us to the relaxed optimism of closer, ‘Favourite’. Our introduction to this era-defining band was through their teeth-baring antagonistic punk sensibilities, but their refusal to be confined has seen them embrace grungy breaks, dystopian electronica, hip-hop percussion, folky observations and dreamy textures that all continue to illuminate their deviant path. Who said Romance is dead?
