This is powerful stuff from Bellevue Days, whose sludgy brand of alternative rock strikes chord upon chord as they swagger effortlessly through their latest EP. ‘Rosehill’ is essentially a coming of age record that picks through youthful experiences of excess with stunning lyrical maturity and their own classy take on loud-quiet-loud.
‘Black Sheep Baby’ gets it all off to a tentatively atmospheric start, before slowly gathering layers of emotional intensity that reaches a climax of raw emotion. From the word go, they tread a fine line between soothing introspection and powerful catharsis that hits the listener right between the eyes. ‘Jack and I’ then continues in a similar tone of intimate reflection, before the riffs kick in to add some alt rock muscle to this tale of failure and alcohol.
Most of the songs follow a relatively similar template, yet they slip enough variety in and around the formula to keep it engaging. ‘Secret Love’ for instance is a slightly twisted downbeat love song, featuring acoustic touches and a bleak overtone, particularly to the lyric, “I can’t stand the sadness, still I buy it whenever she sells”, which is contrasted by a rousing melody that pretty much nails it. However, ‘Dead Summer’ once again goes for the easy atmospheric intro, before delivering another three-minute slice of reflective alternative rock that grows into a massive finale.
Sandwiched in between is stand out track ‘Faith’, which is where they most shake things up. Its smooth sections throb with intensity, while the raw emotion on display when it rocks sends shivers down the spine, absolutely superb stuff. Bellevue Days have come up with an incredible record in ‘Rosehill’ and to put it bluntly, you will not hear a more stunning five track set this year – every song nailing it in style. When your material is this good though, it begs the question of when are they going to make an album?
5/5
‘Rosehill’ EP by Bellevue Days is out now.
Bellevue Days links: Facebook|Twitter|Soundcloud
Words by Edward Layland (@EdwardLayland)
