The Welsh trio that grew up amongst the dirge of indie-landfill somehow managed to sidestep the majority of it on the way through the murky mediocrity of late 00s music, producing music that harked back to early 90s American post-rock. It took from the likes of Tool, The Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden, it was refreshingly obliterating and the volume was seismic, turned up through and past eleven. It took to a sound endorsed by peers Biffy Clyro and Blood Red Shoes, an abrasive turn to big guitar sounds, bulbous vocal lines and thundering paces.

Hitch arrives as their third effort and details the ups and downs of touring; front woman Ritzy Bryan recently told DIY Magazine; “The album talks a lot about freedom, and trying to find it in that weird balance between how comforting it feels to be back home, but also the feeling that you’re not really supposed to be there any more.” Poised in a post-touring position, the album title explains as much as the music does – ‘hitched’, to feel close to something, to feel part of something by catching your luck at the right time, hitching becomes the theme of freedom, hitch hiking. The album cover depicts as much; the long roads of America, the blood-red lettering, splattered on top of the image as if the markings from some Clint Eastwood shootout giving it that Wild West, open plains feel.

From the surrounding context that engulfed the band during the writing process, you get the sense that there is a deeply cathartic undertone to Hitch and nowhere is this more present on the album than with the opener, ‘A Second In White’, a song that explodes with raucous guitar and Bryan’s haunting vocal that undercuts the tension. From here the song nosedives through influences, giving nods to Billy Corgan and co circa-Melancholy with its riveting guitar breaks and palpitating drums sections.

The Joy Formidable as a group have taken from their time touring with the biggest and most profound in the rock genre, those such as Foo Fighters and Muse, the titans who perhaps are losing credibility slightly due to their dwindling diversity in music, extensive careers and often overly obnoxious guitar solos. However, these are bands that have taught the likes of The Joy Formidable lessons about anthemic soundscapes and to the Welsh trio’s credit, they have learnt from them taking the best elements. For a band that were once subject to the constraints of a four minute indie-rock song, Hitch demonstrates a band that have shaken those shackles loose and are now unafraid to enter into territory previously unknown.

This is where The Joy Formidable are going to cut their teeth, this perhaps due to the fact that they self-produced the album away from the interruptions of others where they were previously directed and curbed into rushing songs. The monolithic sound of ‘Radio Of Lips’ is testament to this, clocking in at around six and a half minutes, it boasts huge guitar tones, choruses that loom large and confident shifts in volume that expand and contract with ease allowing for intimacy and boldness where required.

This theme of unrefined timings is a remarkable point of this album, it is taken to the likes of ‘The Last Thing On My Mind’, a song ushered in with Rhydian Dafydd’s funk driven bass before it then loops and swerves through Silversun Pickups comparisons, everything doubled and sounding bigger than a three-piece should ever sound. Rifts between guitar and drums outline the song, all the while Bryan’s voice balances gracefully upon the top of the music. We are reminded of the human nature of the band with the opening chatter, something which is perhaps irrelevant but it adds to the personality of the album and how much the band want to be part of it.

As far as songs go, all the songs bar four are five and half minutes at least in length. For some songs, such as the aforementioned two, this works well. Songs that prove to be as anthemic as they are in length, however for those such as ‘Liana’, this length is just unnecessary as it does what it needs to within four minutes. It’s a really wonderful, well crafted song but when it gets repetitive, you begin to question why. It’s had the huge, apocalyptic breakdown, all three members have shown off and we have understood the hook in the chorus; it just never really leaves much desire to go back and hear it. ‘The Brook’ in a similar fashion opens with an almost-80s style guitar section which sounds wonderful. It builds up and then depletes with its climax before it feels the need to do it again; this perhaps showing the lessons that The Joy Formidable have taken a little too close to heart. Stadium-rock comes in many shapes and sizes but sometimes, those are just too big.

The likes of 2011’s The Big Roar and 2013’s Wolf’s Law demonstrated a band a little more timid, a band a little more constrained however, the likes of ‘Whirring’ and ‘Maw Maw Song’ gave an insight into what the band really wanted to make and for them to finally have taken their shot at it is fantastic. ‘It’s Started’ jams in a 50 second drum intro, a little over the top but that’s what it takes to love this band now. The Joy Formidable are taking on their dreams here and I think that’s what needs to be appreciated. Hitch demonstrates a band full of passion and purpose for where they want to go, the adrenaline-fuelled guitar stabs that run through the likes of ‘Blowing Fire’, ‘Running Hands With The Night’ and album closer ‘Don’t Let Me Know’ flex the muscles of a band that are set to become the next big UK arena band. The likes of ‘The Gift’ and ‘Fog (Black Windows)’ propose a band that can take turns in their sound. The centrepiece of the album details the embers that flicker below the raging fire and this suggests a band that are not only ambitious but wise in how they want to sound now they are hitting the more mature years of their sound.

The likes of Band of Skulls and The Joy Formidable lead the pack here with British rock music that is pushing on what their American counterparts, Kings Of Leon and The Black Keys are now achieving. It’s got a particular audience but what The Joy Formidable are doing with Hitch is finding their groove somewhat more, they're entering their zone and now finding their way within it. The fact that they had freedom to take their time with this album is so blatantly obvious, not only with extensive song lengths but how meticulously perfected every note is. There is no error really, no part is misplaced, no part is left absent. Perhaps with a little more fine tuning and self-containment upon their work, they will find room to cut off the excess fat somewhat and find the middle ground. There are parts where it gets clogged up but on the majority, it suggests for a positive future for British arena rock.

Tom Churchill

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