Mention the genre post-rock and many will immediately associate it with music of sadness – glum plodding riffs and melancholic melodies for swaying and shoe-gazing along to. The Gilmore Trail refuse to get sucked into such gloom and doom, and instead opt for the kind of uplifting, warm and vibrant sound that fill the listener with positivity. This is truly big, bold and beautiful music.

What is immediately clear as opening track ‘Memories of Redfern’ gets going is that these guys really do know how to create an atmosphere. The Sheffield based four-piece can at one moment tug on your heartstrings, then make your chest burst with excitement and at the same time make your heartbeat slow down and speed up at will. The Gilmore Trail haven’t just got into your senses – they’re in control of your entire body.

There is a full sixty minutes of music in the eight songs on offer here but really no danger of getting bored or it losing your attention. The sounds seem to be ever shifting and evolving – moving constantly like it’s alive. Maybe this shouldn’t be so surprising considering the band themselves confess that the natural world is a huge influence as well as the likes of Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros and Pink Floyd.

‘Ballad Down’ is a lovely track. Eleven minutes long, it begins with sumptuous sweeping keys accompanied by the sound of rain before the heavens open and a torrent of churning riffs and crashing bass notes bursts forth. Later it all suddenly subsides and returns to this gently plucking guitar that sounds like rays of sun after a storm.

Title track ‘The Floating World’ twangs playfully in front of a rumble that seems to steadily grow in volume, like a sprite dancing across an approaching avalanche. It’s followed by ‘Oceans/Origins’ which is another masterpiece clocking in at well over ten minutes. This track picks you up like a leaf in a strong wind and carries you up into the air – happy and full of glory and hope.

‘The Floating World’ is only their second full length but it feels as accomplished a record as those produced by their well-regarded peers from both this country and internationally. It’s definitely possible to be a formulaic post-rock band these days, so well established is the movement, but these guys are anything but. It’s soundscape for the summer lovers and it needs your attention.

4/5

‘The Floating World’ by The Gilmore Trail is out now on Chasmata Records.

The Gilmore Trail links: Website|Facebook|Twitter

Words by Alex Phelan (@listen_to_alex)