Exit Calm - Higher Learning/Awake
Described by Stone Roses/Primal Scream bassist Mani as "Proper fuckin' music", I expected a slice of dreamy 90's Northern pyschedelia and I wasn't disappointed.
A reverberant snare drum and tinkering cymbals go at a snail's pace whilst ethereal guitars create a wide open landscape that even the most discerning rockstar smackhead could drift away in. Reminiscent of Disintegration era Cure but with the gloriously bleak sadness replaced with a darkly elegant sexiness and the delicate fragility swapped for a more swaggering if not a complete confidence.
"Awake" is a touch more major key and despite the euphoria of messy guitar hysteria is not quite as satisfying as its moodier brother of "Higher Learning". Still it all sounds brilliantly huge in a My Bloody Valentine kind of way and is a celebration of anti mosh rock in the best way possible.
Turn the speakers up and indulge in your most relaxing vice...