Aquilo
December is a notoriously lean month for new releases, and this year was no exception. Thankfully, I was saved by Lancashire duo Aquilo, who have provided an ‘album of the month-worthy’ offering: their second LP release in the space of just four months.
You Should Get Some Sleep can be viewed as a companion piece to August’s A Quiet Invitation To A Hard Conversation – the two albums are available together as a double vinyl LP – but it also stands by itself as their best work to date.
The band’s production on this can essentially be split into two camps. One is the pop, indie-lite presentation of songs such as the title track You Should Get Some Sleep and Coldplay-esque I Smile When You’re Not Even There.
But this album really shines when duo Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher prioritise restraint in creating their soundscapes. Opening track Feel Alive (“Close your eyes, you’re only 23, but you still know how to dream”) sets the tone suggested by the album title with simple piano arpeggios and washes of strings combining to create a dreamscape which invites the listener to delve deeper.
This style returns throughout, providing necessary respite from the more pop-oriented offerings. No Means No (“Can’t let go, I’m tired and in a mess, and we keep on pushing on dead discussion”) manages to spin 90s slow-jam touchpoints into a truly moving reflection on incompatibility in a relationship.
The eight tracks here get their work done quickly (the album is wrapped up in under 23 minutes), but impressively it never feels rushed. A lovely piece of English pop which demands you hit play again and again. 3.5/5 stars.
Matthew Ambrose presents Under The Radar on Tuesday evening at 7pm on Abbey104. Broadcasting on 104.7FM and online at abbey104.com.
