‘Anthemic’ has come to be a byword for big, arena-friendly choruses, and connotes a mass-market blandness. When the press release makes mention of U2 inspired tracks and press coverage likening a band’s sound to The Enemy covering Simple Minds, it’s usually a forewarning to be braced for some lumpen slop. Thankfully, that’s not the case here: States of Emotion pull of anthemic, while living up to their name in making music you actually feel.
The guitars nag with emotive pull, not least of all on the dreamy ‘Inside Out’. There’s a hint of Manics on the string-tinged ‘Brooksy’s Box’, only with the added depth of some sweeping synths and ‘Seeking Oblivion’ crackles with energy , and across the album’s 12 tracks, they demonstrate an impressive range and maturity of songwriting. You can forgive them the lighter-waving ‘Back to Black’ for providing a well-placed change in tempo, and for being well-executed, and ‘Into the Dream Catcher’ is a real standout. ‘I need some alone time,’ Olly Hooking sings like he means it.
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If there are occasional moments that feel a bit limp, there are enough more than enough others of thoughtfully-poised dynamics to compensate. For an album that nearly wasn’t, after a classic case of a band getting signed and subsequently done over by a label seemingly unwilling to release any product, ‘Black and White into Gold’ is a huge victory.
States of Emotion Online
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