My Bloody Valentine - mbv
- Written by Ben Gibson
mbv has been 22 years in the making. Everyone familiar with My Bloody Valentine will know this. It's mentioned every time the new album is brought up by the press, perhaps just to remind themselves that it actually has been released. But think about what that actually means. Everyone old enough to have been part of the shoe-gazing scene when the band's seminal 1991 album Loveless was released is now middle-aged at the very least.
In some ways then it is a relief that opening track 'She Found Now' seems to start exactly where its enigmatic forefather left off. You're immediately surrounded by Kevin Shields' infamous wall of sound. For anybody not familiar with the band it must sound like someone dropped the needle onto a badly damaged record: a crackly, jumbled mess. Indeed, try playing this album with some friends in the room and watch the baffled expression on their face as they ask you why exactly this took so long to make.
After a few moments of impenetrable noise however; our hearing adapts, the distortion fades to the back of our mind and Valentine's trademark magic begins to push its way through. The following tracks 'only tomorrow' and 'who sees you' appear to confirm that for all intents and purposes, this is Loveless 2.0. This doesn't make them bad songs, 'only tomorrow' builds to a stunning instrumental climax, a fiery guitar solo climbing euphorically above flickering effects and a relentless rhythm section. It's everything that's good about My Bloody Valentine, and, while I don't say this to demean their tireless craftsmanship - it's a tad predictable.
The problem with the first half of the album is that while it is enjoyable, it made me yearn to listen to its predecessor more than see where this record was going. I felt like I could already predict everything I was going to hear right down to the inaudible lyrics and angelic vocals. Luckily I was wrong. Not until we pass the half way mark does mbv really come into its own. The fuzz-bass driven 'New You' is probably the poppiest song they've ever recorded and it is stunning. A love song soaked in effects pedals, cross-rhythms and synth hooks. It makes me think that the band probably could have been chart-topping pop stars, if they felt like it.
Luckily for us they didn't, otherwise we would never have gotten the incredible Nine Inch Nails-esque 'In Another Way'. In interviews Shields had mentioned he is influenced by drum and bass. Here the pounding rhythms not only give the song a primal edge, but it also sounds as though the album is finally fighting back against the pressure of being the follow-up to Loveless.
'In Another Way' is as good as anything the band have ever done. It's an amazing achievement in musical weaving. Vastly different sounds, effects and indeed genres are brought together in a song which builds, morphs and changes so rapidly and so seamlessly that it is a little overwhelming on first listen. Album closer 'Wonder 2' is very nearly as good. It takes off into the stratosphere around the two minute mark and never comes back down.
What makes these tracks better than 'She Found Now', to give one example, is not simply greater originality. It's that alongside the smaller transitions and subtleties there are more obvious changes which keep the songs interesting on a fundamental level. They have a top layer of sound which isn't repetitive on first listen, which makes them more accessible without sacrificing any of the complexity and depth for which they are known.
There are certainly songs which might be a little hard to get into, but that sort of thing is hardly going to bother any fan of the band. Besides, the closest thing to a bad song here is the organ based 'is this and yes' which after multiple listens still feels like a dull way of breaking up the album. Some of the tracks may not give us anything unexpected, but good songs are good songs, especially ones that get better every time you play them. It's a great album. The fact it doesn't sound foolish given the impossible expectations of fans and critics alike is testament to that.
mbv is out now and available to buy here.