Nottingham quartet DIVORCE release their debut album `Drive to Goldenhammer` this month a blend of country, indie-rock, folk and chamber pop that traces the upheaval and transformation of the last few years. The members Tiger Cohen-Towell (vocals / bass), Felix Mackenzie-Barrow (vocals / guitar), Adam Peter Smith (guitar / synth) and Kasper Sandstrøm (drums) have previously described themselves as “Wilco meets ABBA,” with Goldenhammer being a fictional refuge from the world at large, based on a composite of the band’s associations with the East Midlands and something about childhood memories which informs their work generally.
The opening number `Antarctica` charts the end of a relationship while centring around an experience that Felix and Tiger had driving to his parents’ place in Derbyshire. They almost knocked over a newborn calf who had wandered into the middle of the road. Mild laughter is shared before a drum machine beat leads us in and along with delightful wavering guitar chords and a haunting fiddle with dual vocals intertwining and complementing each other on this joyous introduction. A track that feels its way through the start of Tiger’s first queer relationship follows with `Lord` and although falling somewhere between folk and country it had an almost erotic, sensual vibe about it as both singer`s vocals soared.
`Fever Pitch` with its delightful harmonies is a slow burn that mirrors the agony of a relationship that has it`s difficulties but you don`t want to concede any high ground and end up with the expected torment. A further intensive composition follows with `Karen` which may be a metaphor for the emptiness, loneliness, or repetitiveness of performing for an audience or indeed what people expect of you.
The previous track bleeds into `Jet Show` a meandering nigh on inner monologue shared on a relationship that maybe others don`t approve of and you`re caught in the middle with a difficult dilemma or predicament. There`s a captivating emotional dreaminess about `Parachuter` which can be read in a number of ways, it felt like a kind of cathartic reflection .
`All My Freaks` almost shimmers although I read that it skewers the ego of the music industry. We have in `Hangman` a number that takes a snapshot of a time when Felix was working in the care sector, overworked and overwhelmed. The frustration and exhaustion is embodied in the nigh of stream of consciousness shared although it concludes on a positive hopeful message .
`Pill` is an enthralling listen which has a sense of distress or unease for the first couple of minutes before almost taking a time out with a reflective segment shared over a piano recital then resuming with a more thoughtful meditative sound. There`s a deeply absorbed sense to `Old Broken String` which gains a further poignancy as a haunting fiddle adds it`s colours to this tender offering.
`Where Do You Go` ambles or rolls along with an alluring brooding soul-searching introspection on not listening or accepting advice and the realisation of where you currently are. The album closes out with `Mercy` an appealing and engaging surreal reverie about a friendship or relationship maybe.
`Drive to Goldenhammer` is the kind of release that the more times you listen the more you will discover something that you hadn’t unearthed before. The quartet carve their own path musically and lyrically and aren’t influenced by trends which makes them pretty special. I don`t deem to understand the subtleties in the lyrical content but there`s enough that will allow you to interpret it in your own way. The music shared at times is a joy.
An album that I’m sure will make the end of year, best of… lists.
Rating 9/10
