Artist: Principe Valiente
Title: Choirs Of Blessed Youth
Genre: Post-punk, Shoegaze, Indie
Release Date: 6th June 2014
Label: afmusic
Album Review
I sometimes wonder where music this special comes from. There are good songs and good albums, of course, but a rare thing indeed is an almost flawless album and one that seems as otherworldly, ahead of the curve, and completely self-contained as this one. RADIOHEAD spring to mind, as they managed it twice, on both ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Kid A’. But how many others? And don’t be fooled by the genre tags either. There may be shimmering and pulsing and chiming guitars littered like stars in the post-punk elements here, and the introspective, dense layers of sound are definitely trade-marks of Shoegaze, but they do themselves an injustice to pin their sound to either of these masts. ‘Choirs Of Blessed Youth’ is a musical planet that lesser bands will now have to orbit.
‘The Son I’ll Never Be’ could not be a better opener, the swooping, soaring vocals and intensely graceful sadness give so much depth to the sound it’s like sinking and flying at the same time. Driving headlong into the night with the lights off is ‘Take Me With You’, an adrenalin rush of guitars and pounding drums, all building up to the sort of chorus that should own its own house. Like INTERPOL collaborating with mid-period U2, although it’s much better than that. Heavy on keyboards, the wash of melancholy on ‘She Never Returned’ is simply magnificent, and the sense of yearning so intense there’s a feeling you’ll never quite recover. On ‘The Dream’ it’s safe to say that not since JOY DIVISION’s ‘Atmosphere’ has a song managed to capture the essence of that moment between sleeping and waking so perfectly. It’s beyond beautiful. And on ‘The Fighting’ there’s the same dreamy buoyancy, prettily held up by a gently skipping beat and some lively bass.
It never lets up. There’s no deadwood here at all. Maintaining the overall atmosphere and the consistency of the songs, which never rush to draw you in but never last a second longer than they need to, shows a confident and sophisticated song-writing approach. And the range of emotions present at any moment is staggering. Take ‘Fiction’ and it’s almost BRETT ANDERSON sounding chorus. Do you laugh or cry, throw your hands in the air in elation, or fall to your knees and succumb to the weight of it all? These tensions between emotions make this an exhausting journey.
PRINCIPE VALIENTE are clever enough to save the best for last. The pacey ‘Temporary Man’ shakes off some of the moroseness and heads for the adult pop of THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS, whereas final track ‘Flower In You’ whispers-in almost silently, and spreads itself slowly, like frosty fingers on a window. Things gradually build, and by the time the slow cascade of drums and the soaring keyboards are ushered in, this is as vast and monumental as anything SIGOR ROS have produced. Then it dies back, and quietly leaves you alone, mouth open, eyes wet. I don’t believe in 10/10 albums. But I will go so far as to say this is a truly inspired and inspiring body of work, and there is no doubt that ‘Choirs Of Blessed Youth’ is easily one of the best albums so far of 2014. Now let this wondrous thing enter your life…
Tracklist
01. The Son I’ll Never Be
02. Take Me With You
03. She Never Returned
04. The Dream
05. Wasted Time
06. The Fighting
07. Choir Of Blessed Youth
08. Fiction
09. Dying To Feel Alive
10. Temporary Men
11. Flower In You
Line-up
Fernando Honorato - Vocals, bass
Jimmy Ottosson - Guitars
Rebecka Johansson - Keyboards
Joakim Janthe - Drums
Website
http://principevaliente.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/principesweden
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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