Evolution or revolution? A band's critical success over a period of time often comes down to how said band balances the need to progress without abandoning what made them successful in the beginning. For time immemorial debate has waged over the best route to take: Radiohead sent many listeners into a tailspin with the release of "Kid A". Bob Dylan's fans erupted with biblical fire and brimstone following his fifth album, "Bringing It All Back Home". Yet a frequent criticism levelled at Oasis was the lack of originality in their music post-"What's The Story, Morning Glory" (although in the case of the Gallagher brothers, some might say that they were hardly heavy on originality to begin with).
Sennen have already been through at least one state of evolution since their inception. Album number one, 2005's little-known "Widows", arrived on the scene with a marked preference for the sort of stately crescendos and searing noise made popular by bands such as Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky. Yet by their 2008 follow-up, the majestic "Where The Light Gets In", their obvious influences had coalesced into a sound that combined furious distortion and - importantly - an ear for a melody. Based on the "Widows"-"WTLGI" transition, the band seemed set for a drift towards more twinkling, sub-five minute melodic rock. The mildly disappointing "Age Of Denial" found itself in something of a no-man's-land, attempting to mix a similar blend of reverb and reserve, with less successful results. Come 2012, come "Lost Harmony", and the band has unashamedly abandoned the "shoegaze" scene they only semi-intentionally intended to inhabit to begin with.
Admitting that "if were savvier we would have changed our name", Sennen's 'quiet' record was apparently never planned. Yet looking across their music as a whole, a tangible pop sensibility can be heard. And on "Lost Harmony", it stands up proudly. When it works, such as on the gently weeping "Wasted Heart", or the wistfully orchestral "Standing Still", it's decidedly likeable. And at the other end of the spectrum, we have what could be perhaps described as the "classic" Sennen sound, in the form of recent single "Vultures", a motorik fusion of relentless metronomic percussion and dead-hour scree. Yet elsewhere, such as on the sugary opener, which drifts out into a feedback-drizzled emptiness, the music feels more like a tease. Even if you put aside the introductory nature of "Colder" (not that "Where The Light Gets In", with its ferocious "Blackout" curtain-raiser, needed it), the feeling lingers. On "St Jude", it stops feeling like a tease and begins to feel more like a taunt. Described as "poised between peace and dissonance", it fails to take any real steps in either direction, instead occupying a dead-space between the two. Creaking guitars do their best, but something more forceful is needed to cut through the melancholic harmonies. Likewise "Our Lost History", its vocals channelling "Shine On"-era House Of Love, which again threatens to unleash the guitars of war without ever following through.
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Whilst the band's increasingly contemplative mood proves a comfortable fit for the sadness that underpins this release and its lyrics, there are times on "Lost Harmony" when it becomes overbearing, no more so than on "Learn To Love The Dark", whose misguided pathos-ridden, countrified violin dominates an already helium-light melody. The band finds more success with the album closer, "I Watched The End With You", which meanders mournfully to a gentle close. In this case, the gliding strings are better placed as they play off the sparse melody and pensive bittersweet lyrics.
It would appear that having cast off the shoegaze and Ride-associated baggage with the release of "Lost Harmony", Sennen are now much happier in their own skin. It may not have been a conscious decision, but in making their pop tendencies more plain-to-see, the band has fewer sheets of noise to play with. Ironically, by scaling back the razor-sharp feedback and focusing more closely on a mature, more thoughtful sound, the band has also trimmed away some of the subtlety and nuance of tone that made their previous work - and in particular the first two intricately crafted albums - such a pleasure. "Lost Harmony" is still most definitely a Sennen album, but having cut loose from the "limited" shoegaze scene in which they made their name, they also appear to have left behind the immediacy of their previous releases that made for precisely such great pop music.
Essential tracks: "I Watched The End With You", "Vultures", "Wasted Heart", "Standing Still"
Sennen online
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