{"id":4137,"date":"2016-09-29T10:45:29","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T10:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-battle-lines-primal\/"},"modified":"2016-09-29T10:45:29","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T10:45:29","slug":"album-review-battle-lines-primal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-battle-lines-primal\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Battle Lines – Primal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Despite releasing their debut single in 2012, \u2018Primal\u2019<\/i> is Battle Lines<\/b>\u2019 first major release. Yet it doesn\u2019t sound like the patchwork one might expect from an album recorded over a long period of time. ‘Primal\u2019<\/i> is stylistically uniform, combining cold synths and a guitar tone reminiscent of Joy Division or early The Cure. Battle Lines<\/b> put their own spin on the post-punk revival style, creating something that sounds familiar, but not entirely like what’s come before.<\/p>\n

There’s a bittersweet element to even the more up-tempo tracks like ‘Smother’<\/i> and ‘Outsider’<\/i>, which sound more triumphant and empowering than outright happy. On more laid-back tracks like ‘Sea of Fear\u2019<\/i> and ‘Wildlife’<\/i>, Battle Lines<\/b> channel some of The xx\u2019s ambience, but keep things focused enough to stop it from venturing into tedium. Carly Humphries almost-operatic voice compliments both these styles, and adds a layer of emotion to the cold-sounding instrumentals.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There’s some musical and lyrical duality in ‘Hunting\u2019<\/i> and ‘Skull\u2019<\/i>, documenting, it seems, the start and end periods of a romantic relationship. On ‘Hunting’<\/i>, Humphries repeatedly sings \u201cI’m in love with her\u201d; while on ‘Skull’<\/i>, Humphries tells the listener, in a similar melody as the former song’s chorus, that she is \u201cclose to tears\u201d<\/i> and \u201cin awe of\u201d<\/i> the same woman. The musical styles of both songs reflect this as well: ‘Hunting’<\/i> incorporates psychedelic elements to convey the haze-like state which might be induced by love, while ‘Skull’<\/i> is slow and stripped-back.<\/p>\n

‘Primal’<\/i> is bursting with well-executed ideas like these, but isn’t quite an album for the ages, as tracks like ‘Warfare’<\/i> and ‘Outsider’<\/i> are forgettable. Despite this, ‘Primal’<\/i> offers an enjoyable and interesting listen, and shows potential for Battle Lines<\/b>’ future.<\/p>\n

3\/5<\/p>\n

‘Primal’<\/i> by Battle Lines<\/b> is out now on No Sleep Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Battle Lines<\/b> links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Alan Cunningham (@funeral_polis<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite releasing their debut single in 2012, \u2018Primal\u2019 is Battle Lines\u2019 first major release. Yet it doesn\u2019t sound like the patchwork one might expect from an album recorded over a long period of time. ‘Primal\u2019 is stylistically uniform, combining cold synths and a guitar tone reminiscent of Joy Division or early The Cure. Battle Lines […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2929,1610,2930],"class_list":["post-4137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-battle-lines","tag-no-sleep-records","tag-primal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbum Review: Battle Lines - Primal - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite releasing their debut single in 2012, \u2018Primal\u2019 is Battle Lines\u2019 first major release. 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