Formed in October 2023, Our Worlds Collide are a shoegaze/post-rock band with influences from the dreamlike Slowdive and Explosions In The Sky, to the washes of distorted sounds of my bloody valentine and Lovesliescrushing. This quartet who comprise of Finlay Hatton (guitar, vocals), Adam Fulton (guitar), Harrison Wood (bass), and Nicko Cureton (drums) release their debut album `The Stranger` this month and have shared that the album uses the themes of isolation and quiet surrender to emotional devastation.
We are guided into the album via `(dreaming of a) lasting peace` which is about the conflict between inner turmoil and hope in a relationship where hope barely survives. There`s a quite dystopian but at the same time delicate ambiance to this opening number which mirrors the subject matter perfectly. Title track `the stranger` conjures up the feeling of estrangement from life and isolation and uses the “burn out or fade away” dilemma which contrasts burning out—living with intense passion and energy that leads to rapid, dramatic exhaustion or destruction—with fading away—a slower, more gradual loss of passion, energy, and impact. The number which for me had a kind of Twin Peaks atmosphere was inspired by Albert Camus’ book of the same name.
The orchestrated `a deep descent, pt i` is a brief but ethereal segment and felt like a palate cleanser between melodious courses. There`s a real shimmer to `I’ll take this quiet life` which expresses themes of isolation, emotional numbness, and disillusionment. A surrender to an emotional death by masking and hiding behind a façade. It has an almost otherworldly feel at times and is anchored delightfully by its rhythmic rolling drumbeat.
`nothing at all` is about the void after a tragic event before grief hits. There was a restrained aggression that maybe reflected the disillusionment of such an overwhelming event. We have a signal to the inspiration and Lynchian surrealism of Twin Peaks with `j`ai une amie solitaire` whose title is a French phrase that translates to “I have a lonely soul” or “I am a lonely soul” in English. The phrase is famously known as Harold Smith’s suicide note in the mystery drama television series. It begins with elegant chords before pounding drums directs this number`s route which aims to paint a scene of someone in emotional exile.
The penultimate track `all the light we shall never see` is a song about how dark love causes melancholy and fear. It runs to a fairly epic twelve minutes but never feels overly long. It does seem to pause for breath midway through before resuming its closing transcending passage. We have a final instrumental tranche with `a deep descent, pt ii` a fleeting illusory movement which brings this journey to a conclusion.
Although `the stranger` would be categorised in the musical subgenre of shoegaze, there`s so much more to this release that that. It is cinematic, atmospheric and touches on some fairly overwhelming topics and subjects and I was encouraged to listen to it all the way through as if it was one flowing piece. I`m sure you`ll draw you own conclusions as to what it offers you but for me part of the group’s name Our Worlds Collide equated that two distinct and different groups, ideas, or spheres of influence come into contact, often leading to significant, dramatic, or even chaotic conflict or a transformative change.
This release offered me all that and so much more.
Rating 9/10
