When a band becomes part of the furniture, it can mean a couple of things. They might deal in chart-topping, multi purpose wallpaper, or they might be the sort of collective that has inspired devotion for such a period of time that their presence feels necessary. With ‘Grievances’, Rolo Tomassi turn 10. They’ve never sounded more alive.
It’s perhaps strange to describe an album so fraught with violence, dynamic tonal shifts and melancholy as smooth, but the quintet are so locked in here that it’s really the only word that will do. 'Grievances' is delivered with unfussy style even as their palette has broadened, suggesting that its pain-free recording, following protracted sessions for 'Astraea', was both necessary and perhaps on the cards from some way back.
The retro-futuristic computer game squelches have been replaced with sweeping strings and traditional piano, while Eva Spence complements her ferocious scream with plaintive melodies and words that suggest loss, bitter isolation and painful realisations.
More than anything, though, ‘Grievances’ is an exercise in the art of pacing. Despite its many sharp edges, it flows. Estranged is a short jab to the ribs, but runs into the expansive, glorious Raumdeuter, where Chris Cayford layers sweeping guitar melodies to underpin Spence’s widescreen vocal late in the piece.
The instrumental passages frame each movement, allowing contained bursts - the punk‘n’roll of The Embers or the chaotic Stage Knives - to complement the expansive Opalescent and the brooding Crystal Cascades. The closing salvo - Funereal and All That Has Gone Before - encapsulates the balance, segueing from one to the other seamlessly, Spence howling: “We can’t be loved as we are.”
‘Grievances’ represents Rolo Tomassi at their most ambitious and potent. Their stylistic choices are in service to a whole that will leave you bloodied, bruised and euphoric.
Rolo Tomassi Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu June 04 2015 - LONDON Rye Wax
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