Hood up, Head down
Hailing from Yorkshire, consisting of brothers Chris and Richard Adams and various floating players Hood create a musical sound scape that is heavily informed by their local environment.
Down beat throughout and flirting occasionally with pop sensibilities, “Outside Closer” sees them eschewing the full on electronica route of the past for a more organic approach. And it pays dividends. The flourishes of orchestral brass that are scattered throughout cant help but summon up the ghosts of Yorkshire’s mining past, giving the LP a political poignancy that resonates beyond the confines of the stereo. Throughout, broken Arcadian dreams are conjured up and shot through with melancholy and menace, at times its rather like looking at a desolate wind sweep landscape painting with a sinister figure lurking on the horizon.
“The negatives…” moves with a sea of strings and whispery vocals and is graced with the existentially laced lyric : “go to the furthest place from your house, stand there a while, make sure you’re broke, and watch the birds fly by”.
“Any Hopeful Thoughts Arrive” is a 6 minute long sweeping epic. Starting with an abstract stuttering beat and minimal guitar it moves along picking up horns, strings and percussion on the way, building up to a soul-stirring crescendo. It is also graced by the exquisite backing vocals of Nicola Hodkingson.
“End Of One Train Working” is reminiscent of something found in an old Mike Leigh film, “Winter 72” is a ride through dub heavy reverb abstraction, “The lost you” , a clattering ride interspersed with a wispy breakdown , “Still Rain Fell” , plaintive and delicate northern folk, and “Fading Hills” is an impressive mournful piano and horn infused lullaby to an unforgotten past.
The penultimate track “Closure” clocks in at 7 minutes and is a bittersweet ode to lost love, it has all the aforementioned elements and twists them into an expansive widescreen creation. Again Nicola Hodgkinson adds her gorgeous voice in the form of spoken lyrics and affecting, seductive singing. The final track, ”This Is Forever”, sounds like the horn section has been at the whiskey and are attempting an interpretation of the music from the Hovis advert in an echo chamber, it eventually collapses in on itself and slumps to the floor.
“Outside Closer” is a mass of disparate elements fused into a coherent whole, an emotionally fraught and sometimes bleak snapshot of the Northern towns of England, and by extension a reflection on modern existence. Its also a good example of what artists can achieve when they abandon the usual introspective path for inspiration and direct their gaze outwards.