Review: The Horrors – Night Life

‘Night Life’ is a superbly crafted sixth outing both expansive and empty, nocturnal and intimate.

The Horrors have always been one to stand out from the crowd. In the mid/late ‘00s, the Southend band brought a heap of cartoonish goth colour to an otherwise vanilla British indie scene. They weren’t just a flash in the pan either: 2009’s Primary Colours was Mercury nominated, while 2011’s Skying won NME’s Best Album award.

Sixth record Night Life arrives two decades after their formation - a stunning comeback after eight years away. Today, The Horrors still centre around the core duo of enigmatic frontman Faris Badwan and bassist Rhys Webb, but their latest is the first without the original line up (Ninth Wave’s Amelia Webb and Telegram’s Jordan Cook joined last year to play keys and drums, respectively).

As a result, a fresh sonic outlook of moody soundscapes and synth-heavy atmospherics engulfs their latest. Brooding opener ‘Ariel’ is a fitting introduction to this approach. Eerie atmospherics, chopped up rhythms and Faris’ ominous lyricism (“In this world of silent winterscapes / All dreams hang unseen in the air” he opens) provide the perfect curtain raiser.

Such icey-ness then flows into ‘Silent Sister’ where the mix of industrial beats and distorted guitars pay homage to early 90’s Nine Inch Nails. Such brilliance continues throughout this wonderful record. ‘The Silence That Remains’ - self-described as a “3am insomnia walk through the city” – is later a haunting exploration of grief and loneliness, while ‘Lotus Eater’ brings an ambient, electronic focus for a desolate 7-minute epic of subtle beauty.

The Horrors prove their knack for producing anthems hasn’t escaped them on ‘Trial By Error’ and a similar soaring-ness is heard on the dance-rock of New Order-esque ‘LA Runaway’ to offer an optimistic closing point.

Night Life then is a superbly crafted sixth outing; both expansive and empty, nocturnal and intimate. The intense, studio-created soundscapes definitely mark an innovative new chapter in the life of The Horrors, enthralling to the bitter end.

9/10