Ez Luscombe
Post-rock and shoegaze outfit Blanket formed in Blackpool in 2016 and have consistently been putting out atmospheric and dreamy soundscapes inspired by the likes of Circa Survive, This Will Destroy You and Sigur Rós ever since. Their latest effort True Blue is a further exploration into all things distorted and dreamy and self-described as an in-depth exploration into themes of nostalgia, the longing for brighter days ahead, and the ability to find beauty in the small things. It’s more than worth your time.
Essentially, True Blue feels like a warm mug of coffee on a chilly January day due to guitar tones that are pleasantly otherworldly despite Blanket clearly wearing their varied influences on their sleeves. However, long-time collaborator Sam Bloor (Lower Lane Studios) takes these influences and acknowledges them whilst also successfully modernising them through celestial elements and atmospheres.
True Blue kicks off with a diverse wall of sound on intro track ‘The Swallows Reflecting in The Water’ and the distorted, spoken-word vocal samples taken from 2020 western drama Nomadland add another dimension to another enthralling musical project before the more melodic and Deftones influenced intro of second track ‘Hole In My Head’ comes thundering in. The strong dynamics between the sparse vocals and minimalist guitar lines versus the transcendently heavenly vocals and the contrast of misshapen guitars is highly effective, which is everything that you could possibly want in a release that celebrates heavy music.
Collaborating with emo-revivalists Wayside on ‘Bind’, the clean guitars during the introduction of this track are more reminiscent of the classic late 90’s emo sound than of traditional shoegaze, which furthermore allows True Blue to blossom from an already musically interesting album into a modern post-rock classic by adding even more musical variety into Blanket’s latest project. They also collaborate with Lynsey Ward, one third of UK progressive pop and trip-hop trio Exploring Birdsong on ‘Summer Skin’ and despite the texture of the album as a whole already being luminously bright, Ward’s delicate and unique female vocals bring an otherworldly and powerful edge when combined with frontman and guitarist Bobby Pook’s lower register and guttural fury towards the end of of the track. Furthermore, the glassy dream-pop of ‘Wallflower’ proves that they’re more than just a one-trick pony and album-closer ‘True Blue’ is a push and pull between minimalist guitars, Lucas Fletcher’s stampeding drums, and extreme distortion that’s comparable to a tidal wave.
The combination of smoothly rich production contrasted with post-hardcore and post-rock influence certainly make Blanket a band to keep an eye on. With shows at Manchester’s Rebellion and London’s LVLS later this month, it’s an exciting time for these lads. Not to end with a blanket statement, (no pun intended) but True Blue is definitely worth a spin (or ten).