Boston Manor survived the dark, and now they present their dawn. Their fifth album, Sundiver, is the morning to 2022’s dark Datura. The Blackpool five-piece widen their sonic palette over eleven songs and a feature from Heriot’s Debbie Gough. From the first song, light floods in through the cracked window, and each song allows more in to bathe the album in warmth.
Track one on Sundiver is “Datura (Dawn)”, a hopeful callback to 2022’s dourer opener “Datura (Dusk)”. The band has seen positive changes in their lives since their last album, which is reflected in the music from the beginning. Every fresh start awakens worries, though, and the anxious drumbeat underneath the calm melody in “Datura (Dawn)” reminds the listener change isn’t always easy. Boston Manor, however, learn to embrace change with joy after the years that built Datura.
The first half of the album comes across as punkier and hits more notes of influence from Garbage and Deftones, while the second half rounds it out with Portishead and even, they admitted, some NSYNC. Each song is a distinct creature, not a cookie-cutter single. Boston Manor have always been this way, but that sonic diversity is more obvious throughout this new release. Songs feel thicker, more cohesive, and certainly more hopeful. No song breaks the four-minute mark, but each second is used wisely.
Alt rock, shoegaze, and punk dominate tracks up to “Morning Star”, their instrumental breakcore-adjacent sixth track. Some highlights from the first half: “Sliding Doors” vocals melting into electronic screeches over shoegaze-y guitars; “HEAT ME UP”’s impossibly catchy opening riff and melody (which feels like a callback to Datura, subtlety reminding the listener that change and hopefulness isn’t a linear path); and the dissonant chords that open “Horses in a Dream”.
While less rock-oriented influences take center stage in the second half of the album, this is still Boston Manor. Besides, Debbie Gough features on the last track – Sundiver never leans heavily on the band’s lighter influences. What they do provide is some slinky, dance-y grooves on tracks like “Why I Sleep” and “Fornix”. “Why I Sleep” underlines how well the band work together: the drum kick-in, the guitar and bass lines, and the production’s perfect balance of punchy rock and clean grooves. “Fornix” plays most with their influences in a cheeky manner: to lyrics like “I can be whoever”, the song alternates between dance-oriented rock, electronic, synthpop, and crunchy alt-rock, and it closes with a sweet piano outro.
As mentioned, though, the album isn’t all sunshine and roses, as anyone over the age of about two minutes knows. “What Is Taken, Will Never Be Lost” continues with the Portishead influence on an acoustic track accompanying lyrics about frontman Henry Cox’s grandfather’s death. And finally, “DC Mini”, the Debbie Gough feature, brings the album to a close with a screaming, shoegaze finish. Aggression and anger can be parts of positive changes, and Boston Manor wield that knowledge to bring Sundiver to a memorable close.
Boston Manor are masters of concise and memorable albums. Sundiver is an assertive step forward from Datura. The songwriting and production (courtesy of Larry Hibbitt) reward repeat listens, as the five-piece continue to prove the album as an art piece is very much alive.