Ninth Paradise - Two
8/10
Following 2012’s self-titled debut, Norwich’s Jack Curtis and Liam Thetford release Two on to the world. I missed out on their debut which, if it was as good as this, was a mistake. They describe their music as dreamy indie brewed in a blissful sea of herbal tea and incense. This translates into blissed-out dreampop, recalling Slowdive, Sennen, Secret Machines or Leaves.
With restrained drums, chiming guitars, twin lead vox and lilting melody, opener Any Trip sets the template for this album. I Can’t Work Out How We Work is a straightforward take on shoegaze. On Sky’s A Disguise, the vocals go from restrained indie sneer to soaring among the clouds.
It is not all shoegaze. Trees hints at Tears For Fears circa The Hurting. Inner Maze, Outer Haze mixes plangent guitar and 60s TV-theme synths. With a punk-funk riff reminiscent of a post-rock Talking Heads, Architect is the most immediate song on this album but the stand-out is the queasy synth riff and propulsive bass line of I’m Aware, It’s Unfair.
Undeniably lovely as this is, a little noise and feedback would not go amiss but that is nitpicking. Ninth Paradise are clearly talented songwriters, with a deft sense of melody and the songs are all earworms of the best sort.
