Blood Red Shoes - In Time To Voices (Album Review)
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Written by Ellen Davies
Blood Red Shoes are one of very few NME-esque bands of 2007/8 that I haven’t at some point shiftily deleted from my ipod as a kind of coming of age, “I no longer like jangly high-octane indie pop” statement. But despite being a little sentimental about them, I didn’t expect to heard word of another album. I was surprised, I couldn’t remember their sound being something you could produce 3 albums worth of songs out of and assumed they’d disappeared somewhere down the line.
The Brighton duo have always played ridiculous amounts of shows, and are very impressive live. But the reason I found it difficult to imagine them being versatile enough for album 3 was that their records sounded completely geared for this. With the pair consisting of a drummer and guitarist, it seemed like they were plainly aware they needed to keep things simple. Nothing much went in their recordings that couldn’t be played live with ease, which can be interpreted as twee and stripped down, or not very ambitious depending on which way you look at it, but either way is quite limiting.
It was for this reason particularly, that I was surprised to find 'In Time To Voices' to be such a step forward for Blood Red Shoes. Across the album there's so much more maturity, each track is strewn with interesting, almost shoegazing use of guitar pedals and softer, more expressive vocals. The duo had spoken of wanting to push themselves with this record, which I wish I had known prior to its release or I would have had slightly more hope. "We wanted to produce something more ambitious, not something which reflects our live show but something which is only limited to our imaginations, not how many instruments we use onstage", explained guitarist/vocalist Laura-Mary Carter.
Title track 'In Time To Voices' establishes this instantly, with subtle keyboards and almost waif-like singing from Carter. This song is just bound to be a success, it sticks very loyally to Blood Red Shoes' well-established style, with a softer edge. Another highlight is 'Slip Into Blue', one of two largely acoustic track. It has about 15 different sections within it, slipping between them in a really beautiful, dreamy way, probably the best thing they have ever done.
The only weak points on the albums are those where the pair have remembered to do something to prompt their White Stripes comparisons, this happens throughout the third track, 'Cold' and then 'Down Here In The Dark'. Even these could be far less enjoyable, verging on being more fun and lo-fi than uncomfortable and riffy.
'In Time For Voices' is definitely Blood Red Shoes' most successful album, and I am personally very relieved I haven't found myself having to write a scathing review of it!
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The Brighton duo have always played ridiculous amounts of shows, and are very impressive live. But the reason I found it difficult to imagine them being versatile enough for album 3 was that their records sounded completely geared for this. With the pair consisting of a drummer and guitarist, it seemed like they were plainly aware they needed to keep things simple. Nothing much went in their recordings that couldn’t be played live with ease, which can be interpreted as twee and stripped down, or not very ambitious depending on which way you look at it, but either way is quite limiting.
