There must be something in the water up in Scotland, seeing as there are so many bands north of the border who have such an undeniable talent for shimmering, immaculately crafted indie-rock. And while Fatherson and Frightened Rabbit are the obvious ones, that’s not the exhaustive quota of what’s on offer. Case in point, Verse Metrics with their new EP ‘We’ll Be Listening And Remembering Until We’re Old And Unsteady.

An unwieldy title, yes, but the band themselves are anything but, channeling delicate, post-rock-inspired instrumentation with Bob Dick’s strident vocals for a sound that’s imposing, but satisfyingly all-encompassing. Even at only four tracks long, there’s so much to pick apart and delve into here, from the soaring, arms-aloft euphoria of ‘Interlocator’ to the guitar lines on ‘Unicorns / Show Ponies’ that can be so delicate at points you’d think they were made of glass.

Perhaps the most impressive thing is that ‘We’ll Be Listening…’ is consistently captivating; with atmospheric releases like this, the outcome can sometimes feel barren and unable to hold oyour attention. Verse Metrics have no such problem with this, given how hypnotic this EP proves to be, particularly the swaying closer ‘My Name Is Dr Hildegarde Lanstrom And I Am Quite, Quite Mad’ with its copious levels of delay creating a heady, enrapturing atmosphere.

In reality, there isn’t a whole lot to criticise about what Verse Metrics do here. Sure, it would be nice to see what they can do if they let the guitars roar a bit more in a Lonely The Brave sort of vein, but even so, there’s so much to fully dig into on this EP that it hardly matters. If Verse Metrics can carry on like this into 2017, expect to hear the name a lot.

4/5

‘We’ll Be Listening And Remembering Until We’re Old And Unsteady’ by Verse Metrics is released on 2nd December on Lonely Voyage Records.

Verse Metrics links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp

Words by Luke Nuttall (@nuttall_luke)