Sugar Horse – The Grand Scheme Of Things | Album Review

Sugar Horse have long been an entity dedicated to disregarding and upsetting the status quo. The Grand Scheme Of Things continues this in perhaps the most disruptive way yet.

The new full-length record from the Bristolian band, The Grand Scheme Of Things comes a bit of a tricky time for the band. However, to phrase popular parlance, this isn’t because it’s their ‘difficult second record’ or anything like that. Rather, it’s because the album comes at a time where they’re suddenly victims of their own success. Whilst it may be a brash and wholly incorrect to label them as intentional contrarians, the gloomy Bristolians essentially contrast with what popular music practice should be. In an age where music has become nothing more than quick disposable dopamine hits disposed via algorithms, the band’s meandering long-form meditations on shoegaze, doom and the awaiting void counteract such a notion.

It’s this inherent contrast that have long made the band brilliant, with their fluid dynamism allowing the band to inhabit spaces of beauty and disgust simultaneously. But this sense of unpredictability and juxtaposition have come at something of a price; we all now know what to expect from the band. When Sugar Horse announced that their last EP Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico would be a 17 minute singular piece of music, something of the sorts was expected. So how do Sugar Horse continue to contrast against popular exception now we’ve all come to know their deal? By releasing their most accessible record to date of course.

A much more concise and compact record, The Grand Scheme Of Things is a sudden side-step from a band that move glacially. The obtuse, meditative track lengths have been cut down dramatically, the meanderings through genres exercised as quick and rapid strikes. Of course, this might be a concern for some; this is a band renowned for their ability to glide through periods of ethereal shoegaze ambience, plunge into pits of fiery post-metal and flutter though ashen doom all in the same song. However, this is still the same Sugar Horse. The band have lost none of their finesse and genre dynamism through this transformation. In fact, by retaining their ability fly across genres through such shorter song structures without hindering their inherent grace, The Grand Scheme Of Things sees the band in their most dexterous form to date.

The opening gambit of its title track, ‘The Shape of ASMR To Come’ and the brilliantly immersive ‘Corpsing’ establishes this from the offset. Swirling, atmospheric and harnessing that elemental euphoria that only acts such as Mogwai, Hum and Oceansize could previously achieve, it’s within these opening mirages of dense shoegaze that the brilliance of this record is instantly proven. These songs may be clocking in at about four and a half minutes a pop, but each of one of these tracks resonates and contains all the power, fatalism and blissed out immersion that their previous long-form tracks provided. If anything, these tracks take such colossal qualities and compress them into more digestible and comprehensible forms. To achieve this and to restructure their songwriting may have been a challenge for the band, but they make this feat seem effortless.

But as the record progresses, The Grand Scheme Of Things ultimately blossoms as a single entity that warrants full playthroughs to be fully appreciated. Each track may have its own unique identity, mood and overall palatable atmosphere, but this record moves as a single fluid piece. As the record eases into the sudden post-metal violence of ‘Mulletproof’ and the drowning doom tidal pool that is ‘Spit Beach’ – complete with a riff that is no doubt going to incite stank-face en masse – the true beauty of the record comes to pass. These shorter, more accessible tracks allow Sugar Horse to quickly, effortlessly and wondrously touch upon all the cornerstones that have long made them such an enigmatic entity. The emotive upbeat wonder of ‘Jefferson Aeroplane Over The Sea’ makes this fact undeniable, it’s lifting joy mirroring that of the left-field bliss that was ‘Dadcore World Cup’ from their first LP.

Like said though, Sugar Horse are a band that are seen to disregard the status quo. And with this new presentation and delivery established, the final moment of unpredictability lies with this record’s closer ‘Space Tourist’; a dreamy bludgeoning that ends with 20 plus minutes of droning feedback. For a band to end their most accessible and cohesive record to date in this way is not only hilarious, but the most Sugar Horse move possible. But regardless of this, The Grand Scheme Of Things is simply a triumph. It’s inevitable that many will argue over if Sugar Horse are better suited to shorter or their previous long-form tracks following this, but the fact that they’ve managed to completely reengineer their sound in a way that’s complimentary to their mercurially obtuse nature and all that originally made them great is something to fully celebrated and championed. God knows that they’re going to scheme up for their next release though.