(((O))) Review: Overhead, The Albatross – I Leave You This

Dublin’s Overhead, The Albatross are a new name for this discerning follower of all things Irish and instrumental. Despite being in existence since 2009 I’ve never had the pleasure of listening to their cinematic approach to fusing post-rock with electronics. Taking their name from a line in Pink Floyd’s song ‘Echoes’ their second album entitled I Leave You This is a superbly produced and very slick collection. The five piece of Vinny Casey (guitar), Steve Darragh (guitar/bass), Ben Garrett (drums), Luke Daly (guitar) and David Prendergast (piano, keyboard) are following up their RTĖ Choice Music Prize nominated debut Learning to Growl.

On the album’s opening track ‘Your Last Breath’ delightful fluttering synths fuse with mathy guitar loops and a lumbering bass groove, before shifting to a muscular passage of fuzzy guitar with a shimmering piano roll. A chugging saxophone adds a little pizazz near the end before the track erupts with a mighty heft. A heavily accented spoken word returns from the introductory piece ‘A Letter’, steadily building up to an emotional monologue that completes the story quite remarkably. ‘Welcome Home’ is essentially a field recording of someone’s living room that ends with atmospheric synths and vocodered voices, a sizeable nod to Mogwai when they do actual songs.

The combination of melodic guitars and synths in ‘L’Appel du Vide’ have a lovely sheen and I’m reminded of another Irish band, God Is An Astronaut. In terms of dynamics, the track covers a lot of styles and switches from calm to storm with consummate ease. The tasty finale reaches for something epic and embraces it with a full-on kaleidoscope of synth splashes and thumping drums. ‘At Sea’ marries modern technology to gorgeous violin in a very satisfying way, melody is king. The vocodered voices sound a little like Air and before the beats nudge into a techno style under a deep bass synth hum. They let the tension build up for what you anticipate will be a mighty payload and eventually the drop kicks in with a plethora of screaming synths and guitars.

During ‘Hibakusha’ sweet guitar is interlaced with a melancholic violin sweep over a clattering percussive groove. When the vocals drop it’s very like the late Maxi from Faithless. Suffering under the weight a nine-minute length, the mid-section wanders for a while before a slamming distorted bass unleashes a nice eastern feeling section that teeters on going full on post metal. ‘Miss Na Kita’ is a quirky interlude of pitter-pattering percussion while a falsetto laden vocal laments missing someone.

Next up its ‘This Is Like Love’ which is an all-out banger with a beautiful sampled vocal from the get-go. Perfectly paced and diligently dissected to maximise the twisting vocal, the instrumentation is hyper and tight and not unlike Frankie’s ‘Two Tribes’ in places. As the vocals drift in and out the sequencing flickers and shifts bringing a superb flowing dynamic. ‘Paul Lynch’ has a slinky jazzy groove with a multitude of synth sounds over a jittery percussive display that is dexterous and executed brilliantly. A spoken word interjection ends with a touching “We’ve reached the end my brother, goodbye is all we know”. A heavenly voice skitters over waves of synths and vibrant drums, bringing an emotional euphoria. The final flurry of instrumentation arcs skyward as gang vocals swell with a defiant chant. Bookending the album is the sample-led ‘A Letter 2’ featuring a child relaying a mystical tale before waves of mournful strings rise up to carry you away.

It’s always refreshing to hear different variations on the post-rock/instrumental rock genre and when it is executed with the confidence and quality production that this band have, it’s most rewarding. There is no doubt they owe a lot to the sound of fellow Irish rockers God Is An Astronaut, but that’s not a bad thing as they’ve been on the go a long time and still able to go on sizeable tours far beyond their native lands. This is an enjoyable and energetic collection of well sheened tracks that hit the spot with some lovely dynamics.