Words: ROBIN MUMFORD
“When the world stops spinning, we’ll all be dead anyway, so let’s pretend we understand”
This is just one of the many quotes in lossline’s new album that could be casted as a standalone microcosm of everything that the Mancunian duo represent through their doleful dose of sonically sombre and lyrically lugubrious productions.
Returning with a second album, after their debut creation ‘Fading Affect Bias’ sucked listeners into a monotonic dungeon of sad songs that were given the sole purpose of inducing the deepest emotions in the human psychology, they return a year on with the same themes of reflection and despondency but accompany their music with a broader scope for sounds and textures that are deserving of adulatory reviews.
While the social commentary of the first album was heavily reliant on steady guitar walls and eerie piano plays, the second sees the band branch out to put in place a more well-rounded soundscape. From track to track, there is a greater difference in the way it sounds, the meaning it gives off, and the direction it is heading on a sonic level compared to previous constructs.
For instance, the ‘Horn Intro’ would set listeners up for an ambiguously upbeat album.
But for anyone who expected lossline to budge from their dark selves, they will soon be forced to think again.
The opening track feels like it’s there purely as a disillusion for the nine subsequent listens.
With titles ranging from ‘Quiet Night’ to ‘Lonely Kids In Rhyl High School Library’ and ‘Death Masks’ (which is an amazing track, btw!), lossline very abruptly returns to their depressive best once a horn intro builds anticipation of unexpected positivity.
lossline are fearless when it comes to revealing their vulnerabilities, a quality that, as time progresses, is becoming more prevalent today. Whether or not their brand of whimpering music is your taste or not, we will always love the duo for their policy of being true to themselves.
Jack and Adam have once again tapped into their deepest emotions to produce a second album that is intuitively as good as their first but musically a level far beyond. They are a pair of candid friends that know no limits to evoking heartfelt intensity to their music, and the textures that polish a song are becoming progressively better with each studio session.
When the world stops spinning, we’ll all be dead anyway, so if you are ever wanting to feel the full force of emotion, we reckon lossline is your best bet.