UKHC supergroup Still In Love prove themselves fluent in the chaos and catharsis of human existence on striking debut.
Disconsolate as the tied-up pooch on the downbeat cover art for their debut LP may appear, Still In Love are a collective with poundingly proud pedigree. Boasting ties to UK bright sparks Dead Swans, Throats, Brutality Will Prevail, Last Witness and Bring Me The Horizon (to name a few) it feels almost predestined that the eight songs and 23 minutes that make up Recovery Language will be less than the sum of their parts. Sidelining the showboating and hollow machismo that characterises so many ‘supergroups’ in favour of real emotional connection, however, this is a record more than worth your time on its own visceral terms.
Tell The Truth is a hell of an opener. Far wirier and less mindlessly bludgeoning than the ‘UKHC’ tag would suggest, it is post-hardcore borne from the turbulent subconscious rather than the need to project positivity. Likewise, frontman Nick Worthington has called Nervous Impulse “a way to vent my frustrations, a personal reminder about setting boundaries and taking care of my mental health.” It positively creaks under the weight of unease within.
Perish & Cherish, featuring Architects’ Sam Carter, is a grandstandingly cathartic centre-point. Less concussively metallic than Sam’s main band, it sees grief and trauma pooling closer to the surface than they have in his output for some time. There’s no wallowing, though, as they race through the 1,000mph Feathered Nest into unapologetically stomping highlight Inherit.
Picking up where they left off with the Withdrawal Symptoms EPs, Recovery Language is the sound of musicians venting the feelings built up inside rather than being caught up in any kind of content churn, a short, sharp exhale that never outstays its welcome.
Even allowing themselves to sprawl in the album’s last three songs, no moment feels unearned. The State Of Things To Come evokes a long and rocky road ahead, before Basement’s Andrew Fisher lends his sensitive croon to the otherwise oppressive You Have To Let It Go. Things are capped off at relatively epic 312-second closer Pillar Of Strength in no time at all. Their sentiment hits all the harder for it: a tide of disquiet that you truly feel.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Dead Swans, Brutality Will Prevail, Bring Me The Horizon
Recovery Language is out now via Church Road
