Words: Gareth O’Malley

“There’s real life in the dark. Real life is dark.” So said Editors frontman Tom Smith when speaking about his band’s third album ‘In This Light And On This Evening’. I get the impression that Insect Guide would subscribe to this view. The trio are most comfortable with the darker side of life - and love - no matter how uplifting a contrast their music might provide.

The band prefer to shroud their songs in effects of all kinds: guitars drip feedback; Su Sutton’s vocals are reverb-laden and strangely distant, a trick that adds rather a lot to the record’s appeal. Their wall-of-sound approach to 80s-styled pop noir frequently works wonders.

Opener ‘Wasted’ is textbook Insect Guide, highlighting the band’s strengths from the moment it kicks into gear. A sublime ear for melody ensures that even through all the haze and uncertainty there can be discerned a good number of exquisite pop songs. If you’re looking for immediacy, look no further than recent single ‘Down From Here’, one of the group’s finest moments to date.

‘This City’ ticks all the boxes in that department, too, but besides those two songs (and perhaps the title track), ‘Dark Days and Nights’ is an entirely more subdued affair, the band more comfortable with the slow-burning mid-tempo song, drenched in atmosphere. Songs like ‘10’ showcase their other side, but the band never forget to pack an emotional punch. The topic of a certain relationship keeps cropping up in the lyrics: ‘No more safety in your lies/No more love in my eyes’

This relationship certainly seems troubled, that’s for certain; as a result, ‘Crushed’ takes on a sort of menacing vibe when taken as a whole, its chorus of ‘I don’t sleep easy next to you’ sounding oddly unsettling when set against such a sparse arrangement.

There are gentler moments, however, such as ‘Tape’, which reveals itself as one of the album stand-outs on first listen. It’s far too short, and this is the only problem I have with it. The melody is great, and it deserves far more attention than it no doubt will, as the track runs to just over a minute.

It provides a nice transition to ‘Insider’, a song which boasts a great performance from the rhythm section, in particular the group’s newest member, drummer Chris Cooper. There are definite hints of The Cure present on penultimate track ‘Disco Tents’, too, something that’s very definitely a good thing.

The album could be said to end with a whimper by some, but others will say that ‘Hearts Don’t Break’ finishes ‘Dark Days And Nights’ brilliantly. I’m of the latter opinion. The song is by far the most subdued the record has to offer, but it has a sort of beauty to it that I’d like to hear more of.

Thirty-three minutes long, the album’s cohesive nature is aided by the fact that it plays as one piece of music from start to finish, each track flowing effortlessly into the next. ‘Dark Days And Nights’ is a visceral listen from the word go, but it is also the sound of a band realising their potential to great effect.

7.5

Audiovisuals: Wasted