It feels like an age since we last heard from Billy Talent doesn’t it? Four long years since everybody’s real favourite band dropped ‘Dead Silence’ on our unsuspecting ears to be exact. Luckily the Canadians have returned with another slab of forward thinking and infectious rock for us to get lost in in the form of ‘Afraid Of Heights’ just in the nick of time. Is it any good though?

Of course it is.

The thing about Billy Talent is that they have never had to drastically reinvent themselves at any time during their existence. The music they make has always been brilliant just as it is. Brash and ballsy yet soulful and sultry, the contents of ‘Afraid Of Heights’ feels like another masterclass in songwriting to rival any of the band’s previous gold selling records.

‘Ghost Ship Of Cannibal Rats’ and ‘Louder Than The DJ’ probe with spiky riffs and heated vocal refrains, ‘This Is Our War’ feels like a banner being waved in the face of adversity and the title track bristles with building melodies and building . These aren’t songs written by a band that feels like they have something to prove. There’s no bullshit or pretense to be found. Billy Talent write music simply because it is what they love to do, plain and simple. That has always been the case and ‘Afraid Of Heights’ just goes to reiterate that in the best way possible.

Billy Talent are a band others should aspire to be – accessible yet wholly unique, easy to listen to but also littered with little intricacies that make them different, playing music simply because they want to. Saying that, ‘Afraid Of Heights’ is just another notch in the belt for a band that have consistently produced enigmatic and vital rock music across their career and seem to have no intention of stopping now. Expect to have these jams running round your head for months to come.

3.5/5

‘Afraid Of Heights’ by Billy Talent is released on July 29th on Warner Music Canada / The End.

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Words by Jack Rogers (@JackMRog)