Altsounds - Howling Bells Release 2nd Album 'Radio Wars'

In 2009, get ready for the Howling Bells to go fantastically widescreen with the release of their brand new record, “Radio Wars”. If their debut could easily be the soundtrack for the beautifully haunted world of Twin Peaks, their sophomore effort, “Radio Wars”, would be their leap into the blockbuster mainstream. Which isn’t to say that they’ve lost any of their piquancy and peculiarity – far from it – only to say that with this album, they’re showcasing a wider and more surprising range which their debut only hinted at. There’s a formidable richness here, a glorious depth and maturity and growth which takes the Howling Bells’ sound into hitherto unexplored terrain, aided, in no small part, by the expertise of producer extraordinaire Dan Grech-Marguerat.

So yes, there are the mesmerising shades of darkness that we’ve come to expect from the Howling Bells, as can be seen in “Into the Chaos”, a mini-masterpiece of a song that comes replete with sumptuous strings and Juanita’s breathless sigh of “Temptation lies, inside my heart” spiralling to heights dizzying enough to give any listener vertigo. “Treasure Hunt” too, spins a gorgeous, haunting yarn of lost love and unfulfilled yearning that could crush hearts with a single blow.

But then the single “Cities Burning Down” struts in, all celestial hooks, razor sharp hauteur and killer attitude, completely defying expectations in the process with its cocksure swagger and lustrous pop sheen. “Let’s Be Kids”, meanwhile, infuses its tale of sad, wistful romance with a gorgeously simple chorus lush enough to lift the heart and blow the mind, and with “Save Me”, the Howling Bells have a genuine smash hit on their hands, a soaring, melodic tour de force which cunningly belies its underlying themes of delusion and obsession.

With “Radio Wars”, Howling Bells pull out all the stops and escalate their sound to a whole new level that propels them firmly from the grainy, twilit universe of their first album and into the Technicolor mainstream. Love, loss, life and death, youth and mortality, light, dark and everything in between – these are the vivid colours that the Bells are painting their massive canvasses with now, and this is the kind of epic music they’re making. “Radio Wars” is majestic, contrary, sweeping, and optimistic all at once, and on a far grander scale than ever imagined, and you will soon be entranced as well. Get ready for them to work their magic on you all over again.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Treasure Hunt
2. Cities Burning Down
3. It Ain’t You
4. Nightingale
5. Let’s Be Kids
6. Ms. Bell’s Song/ Radio Wars Theme
7. Golden Web
8. Into the Chaos
9. Digital Hearts
10. How Long