Outer Heaven

Description

Outer Heaven is a massive leap forward for Toronto post-punks Greys. Delivering on the promises made on 2015s Repulsion EP, the band tempers their trademark onslaught of discordance with new textures and subtle dynamics, building a more spacious and melody-driven environment atop their noise rock foundation. They fearlessly explore every extreme, simultaneously delivering their most intense and accessible moments, often within the same song.

We never want to do just one thing, says frontman Shehzaad Jiwani. We want to incorporate as many disparate sounds as possible, yet still have it sound like the same band. This bold approach saw them return to Montreal to record at the hallowed Hotel 2 Tango studio (Arcade Fire, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) with longtime producer Mike Rocha, giving the songs unprecedented atmospheric depth while never compromising the bands characteristic cacophony.

Each song contains a sweet-and-sour earworm that brings singer-guitarist Jiwanis characteristically self-aware, often satirical lyrics to the forefront, and his serrated shout is almost entirely swapped for a more tuneful approach. Almost. Lyrically, his focus has sharpened, moving from inward to outward. This is best evident on first single No Star, wherein Jiwani addresses the aftermath of the shootings at Bataclan in Paris by declaring, Dont shoot/Im not the enemy.

Outer Heaven filters its subject matter through Jiwanis wryly incisive perception of those topics, from a news story about a group of teens barbarically murdering their classmate on album opener Cruelty, to the advent of technological singularity on closer My Life As A Cloud. Elsewhere, on Blown Out, the frontman confronts his own mental health by painting it in the context of a relationship with a partner who doesnt fully understand the unrelenting complexities of depression. The climax of the song sees him wailing, I want you to see/Theres something wrong with me, which would be a harrowing moment if it wasnt the single catchiest song Greys have ever written.

The young quartet stretches its limbs like never before on more delicate tracks like Erosion, where Jiwani sings softly over Cam Grahams delicate guitar, recalling the dream pop qualities of early Deerhunter or late-period Unwound. Elsewhere, on Sorcerer, bassist Colin Gillespie and drummer Braeden Craig launch an unrelenting yet hypnotic assault that falls somewhere between Swans and Portishead. With ten tracks at just under forty minutes, Greys raise the bar for what is expected of a punk band in the 21st century.