FLASH: MIDAS – WUNDERHORSE

2 years ago

Are Wunderhorse turning everything they touch into gold with Midas? Its raw and surprising atmosphere holds the answer. Review.

MIDAS – WUNDERHORSE

This new record, named Midas, starts with the title track on which Wunderhorse pushes some efficient dry riffs. But more than that, the English band actually lays at our feet a smashing classic. This offering isn’t the last of the record, but as it’s the first one, it’s the most remarkable to me. Like the rest of the album, Midas is marked with raw energy, voluntarily left unperfected and textured. And that’s why it sounds so great! Rain and Emily are drawn with the same charcoal, elongating strokes left by the previous ones, and leaving a lot of matter for those following.

Overall, and as shown through Silver and Arizona, this record doesn’t hesitate to touch on sombre themes. Any kind of hope we hear shines by its subtlety, surrounded by a cathartic darkness brought by great effects. Superman does switch the atmosphere a bit, by installing a softer rhythm and folk chords on its intro. Its epic progression is what makes it such a noticeable and gripping song. There’s no time to catch a breath, as July and its sharp riffs barge in next. And this one is one of my favourites on the record.

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On Cathedrals, Jacob Slater’s vocals are high and spiritual just before jumping into the chaos created by his comrades Harry Fowler on the guitar, Peter Woodin on the bass and Jamie Staples on the drums. Then, the band is having fun with the romantic pop-rock Girl, preceding what might be their biggest surprise. To close the record, the Brits are proposing the tranquil Aeroplane, an eight-minute long tour de force on the folk side, intimate, sincere, and highlighted by beautiful electric solos. Midas will not sign Wunderhorse’s glorious but disastrous destiny. To me, it simply marks a new step for the band. And they should be able to bring new fans in easily with it. Gold without upcoming pain – at least, that’s all I wish them.