Bright Black is the new album by London Plane who come from New York and play gothy post punk with a modern twist.
The album opens with recent single and album title track Bright Black a goth pop anthem against war and the dark abyss we seem to be circling currently, with dual vocals from David Mosey and Jessica Cole that weave between the guitars that the more I've heard it the more it really works.
The Darker You even as a title, before you hear the song, is asking questions of the listener, is it about your urges or your skin tone or something more troubling. It appears to have lightened up a Joy Division bass line and added the dual vocals to make a song about darkness seem rather light and airy and almost perfect for dancing in the dark but without the cliched video that particular song came with.
Come Out Of The Dark almost feels like an anthem for how it feels to emerge from a nightclub into bright morning sunshine if that walk was accompanied by a Siouxie Sioux style vocal and clubby post punk guitars that chime as you try to wander home.
Watch That Madman Go has the sort of foreboding and dread the title deserves without being a totally doom-laden tune. With backing vocals sounding like they are being spoken through a loud hailer, we are invited to look at just what the madman is up too with a bassline solo that goes all a Certain Ratio and Balaam And The Angel style guitars with Jessica's vocals recalling a younger sounding Vi Subversa or maybe even Get Smart!
Homocosmicus is as suggested by the tile nice and spaced out while they Ask some questions about the madness of humanities treatment of the environment set against all sorts of familiar sounding guitar and drum parts this song is a real grower.
Francesco is the English version that drives along at a good dancefloor goth pace with shards of guitars and a cool synth bassline. Somewhere between Torch Song and the more arabesque end of The Cure's 80's material this is in many ways all about that bassline and what goes above and below it.
The Wish feels like it was inspired by Marianne Faithful's Broken English period, it has a delicious darkness to it while being the most acoustic song on the album.
Electric Clock has the feel of an old music hall number but with a modern twist or two as they ask questions about how or what makes you go out post pandemic set against a tune that reminds me of Bugsy Malone and that's swell so to speak, no matter how desperate they were to find somewhere open in lockdown to sell them some ciggies. It also has a blistering guitar solo.
When We Were Right has a frazzled Psychedelic Furs feel as they ask the eternal question of how come if so many of us knew what was right have we ended up where we currently are.
Gold Soul has an achingly familiar guitar and bassline that I will spend ages trying to figure out where it's nicked from, it doesn't matter as the rest of the song about where you've buried the ill-gotten gains is inventive enough to make it all sound fresh and new.
The album closes with the second version of Francesco this time in Italian, that sounds like the same mix only with Italian lyrics which is cool.
Find out more at https://londonplane.bandcamp.com/album/bright-black https://found.ee/yM0q4 https://www.facebook.com/londonplanenyc/
