On their last two albums The Arboretum gave us a wide screen post electronica gothic, however their new album, “Dream of the Endless” brings a fresh development of their sound. Opening song “Delirium” starts with a pounding 1! 2! 3! 4! on the snare drum to plainly signal to us that we’re in harder, rockier terrain than before. The guitars are pushed to the front, with the synth loops and swirls providing colour, rather than leading the rhythm. This makes the music less funky, but darker; as though Killing Joke had been produced by The Orb. “Delirium” continues with the band’s trademark resonant harmonies, a thick, fat bass line, and keyboard lines spitting and spinning out static, like a malfunctioning alien radio distress signal.
Lyrically, with this album the band have bravely made the decision to step forward into the imagination. Some songs still clearly reference the political landscape, most clearly on “Hollow”: “Vainglorious choices / Crowd pleasing noises / For the loudest voices / And the lies that follow / I just can’t swallow your hollow promises / And your choices will kill tomorrow”. However most of the songs on the album seem to adopt the perspective of a character. I’m not talking about the chirpy Ray Davies Britpop kind of character songs though – this is The Arboretum remember! “Circle of Swords” is sung from the point of view of some sort of Norse deity: “Got a hero’s welcome waiting for me instead / Got a flight to Valhalla booked back where I came”. “Dream of the Endless” seems to be sung by someone living through a dystopian future cityscape: “Dream of the endless / Your dark conscious world / Thoughts that you keep / The hope ever long”. By channelling their lyrics through the eyes of characters, the band have cleverly side stepped the trap of making an album that sounds like it’s grinding out the same bones of contention as before. Yes, the political dissatisfaction and anger is still there, but now it all sounds different as it comes through the words of characters in different times and places giving it a fresh perspective.
I’m generally not a massive fan of guitar solos, but the emotion pouring out of the solos on this album won me over. They are so expressive, wrenching – all about communication and not flashy technique, bringing to mind the way solos are used by The Cure. In “Silence of The Sirens” the guitar solo is given a daring amount of time to open up, expand and express before it’s swallowed up by trickling synths and a Peter Hooklike bass line. On “Isolator” the lead guitar sounds like a giant sitar, played by a god descending from the clouds. On “Circle of Swords” the solo comes crashing into the song spilling energy everywhere and clearly in debt to Motorhead’s Ace of Spades. However the dark electronica still lurks through all the songs, it’s just deeper in the mix this time. Occasionally it surfaces to put the guitars in their place: the start of “Hollow” is like a fizzing funky depth charge plunging to the bottom of the sea; “Lies” begins with Depeche Mode keyboard lines flickering back and forth before a trebly guitar and a thick bass line increases the darkness. This song itself feels like a cathartic venting: “Lies, lies, lies / All their dirty lies” it repeats over and over without specifically pointing out the song’s target, giving us all the chance to project our own personal bete noir onto the song: the boss, an Ex, a political group, a politician or unscrupulous business leader – pick your own as you howl along. “A Warning” also starts with a juddering synth loop that pulses and propels the song into spacious, rhythm guitar. Sirens wail, a voice (Einstein?) warns us “The only real danger that exists is man himself”.
Throughout the album, Chris Trims keening Lydonesque singing and brother Keith Trim’s resonant backing vocals lead us by the hand, deeper and deeper into the existential dread that lies at the heart of the human experience. No one combines electronic music and heavy rock influences quite like The Arboretum. The result is a totally unique kind of hard, dark post-punk. Depeche Mode’s dark spirit is never far away, the burbling synthesiser lines shimmer around the thundering drums and propulsive heavy bass lines where, amazingly, we encounter hope fuelled by love, concern for others, and massive crunching guitars!
Dream of the Endless is available to buy on CD or download via Bandcamp.
By: Eastside Jimmy