Upon first listening to Guilty of Love, it is a wickedly hard album to place, it draws on so much pop-sensibility but without really clarifying its true origins. Then you find yourself reaching out for a chair to try and summarise it, trying to work it out, puzzling over the intricacy of the musicianship, the astonishing melodies and then it drops. This is arguably the most intriguing and daring indie album of 2016 so far; it demonstrates a musician, in the form of David Holmes who has pulled out his pick axe and excavated into the vast history of music. He has taken the traditional pop-sensibility and tied it into a logical format that spans 60s rock’n’roll groups, 80s synth-pop grooves, the neon strips of Venice Beach and 70s soul.

David Holmes is the Northern Irish musician who has masterminded Unloved and in the past he has worked as an electronic based pioneer, remixing and reworking material by Primal Scream, U2 and Doves amongst many others. Unloved is his latest and most advanced concept so far, it took Holmes from Northern Ireland to the far flung stretches of Los Angeles, meeting the composer/producer Keefus Ciancia and songwriter, Jade Vincent who put together Guilty of Love – a concept that sounds like some far out film score.

As an album and a complete piece of work, it is so vastly intriguing, from the moment you knock on the door of the opening track, ‘Guilty of Love’ becomes a complete adventure with seductive vocals and sonic wizardry by your side. The groove of the song blends in with notions of Northern Soul music, the likes of Al Wilson and Ike & Tina Turner come to mind with the staccato rhythm and general lustful demeanour of the song. Vincent’s smoky voice hovers above in an angelic fashion, sugar coating you at all times; it brings about imagery of knocking back whiskey at late hours in some seedy bar out on the strip, neon lights burning down upon your wretched head as you contemplate your decisions leading to this moment.

As the album progresses into the pounding ‘After Dinner’ it hits you down in the depths of your stomach somewhere, you take on ideas of Andrew Weatherall’s workings with Primal Scream. Looping guitars shimmer somewhere in the foggy distance as Vincent’s voice pans through your head taking the journey from one side to the next. It takes everything that Fat White Family, The Velvet Underground and Can have been doing and puts some more sedative into it; it’s psychedelia without being unbearable or obnoxious. The likes of ‘Damned’, ‘Cry Baby Cry’ and ‘Xpectations’ take off from where ‘After Dinner’ left us; each song taking us on some lethargic, drunken journey from now back through to the late 60s haze of the West Coast. It becomes interesting and significant as a musical concept because it takes psychedelia but doesn’t paint within a self-supporting scene, it carries different edges that allow it to bleed into genres that it never did before as such. ‘Xpectations’ takes you on journeys that weave up and down, synth sounds sample around the peripheries allowing for Vincent’s voice to cut through the middle, bass rumbles below in a tumbling fashion.

The album develops, not satisfied on finding its signature sound, it pulls you through the Northern Soul, rock’n’roll infused ‘This Is The Time’, a song that bursts out like greyhounds set loose from the traps, drums erupting with a racing tempo on the toms. From here we are left with big guitars reminiscent of Pete Townsend and vocals that sear along in 60s girl-group unison, levitating the song and matching it pace for pace, step for step. In the past David Holmes has been known for his work producing film scores for the likes of Ocean’s 12 and Let’s Get Killed therefore it is no surprise that Unloved follows such a narrative structure. The soundtrack embedded within this music allows for dynamic and twists behind every next track, it’s one that begs you never to press skip and to be frank, there’s never any need to, it’s one for the journey.

‘When A Woman Is Around’ loosely draws on the same fraught drum dance before calming into a gentle Stonesy guitar jive. It takes The Shangri-Las and The Ronettes, giving them a modern, psychedelic haze over the top, it maintains the gentle run through the verse before building to big harmonies in the chorus. These are songs that are so deliberately hard to pigeon hole, testing audience members to try and place them. ‘The Ground’ takes a more electronic outlook, giving Holmes more room to play with comforts, while ‘I Could Tell You But I’d Have to Kill You’ plays with the Death In Vegas groove, ushering in sex appeal with its lethargic drumming pattern. It’s the type of music that leans slightly towards the likes of Tricky and Massive Attack with its riveting trip-hop underbelly, as dark and haunting as a noir soundtrack should be.

If the rest of the album is the soundtrack to the film with its chase scenes, sex scene and moments of reflection, the closing of the album certainly acts as testament to the great crescendo; ‘We Are Unloved’ hits euphoric heights before collapsing into gentle string sections. ‘Silvery Moon’ takes this further with its doom and gloom, expansive synth sounds and gentle harpsichord. Vincent’s smoky voice surfs over the top in some heady, stoned fashion once again pointing towards the geographical West Coast nature of the music.

As Guilty of Love closes on ‘Forever Unloved’, we are left with the final statement from Holmes, Vincent and Ciancia, it’s as smoky and far out as the album has suggested however it gives you a chance to reflect on what a perfect album this could well be. Every song provides your palette with something new and eventually you find your way to the term ‘tasteful’. That’s the best summary of Unloved and their debut album. Everything is done with purpose and care, from every last vocal melody, every single touch of a key and every little bit of the score – but then should it surprise us? Holmes and Ciancia have largely spent much of their careers working with film scores therefore they know, by the nature of their job, how to structure a piece of music from start to finish. This not taking away from the album though. This can work for fans of The Velvet Underground, through to 60s girl groups, contemporary electronica, trip-hop fanatics and soul lovers. It’s an exceptionally appealing album and testament to this fact, it’s arguably the best journey we could have wished for in 2016 and it’s only March.
Tom Churchill

Website: weareunloved.com
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