ALBUM REVIEW | EX-VÖID – IN LOVE AGAIN by Morris Shamah
With their second album, In Love Again, London based quartet Ex-Vöid have achieved a rare feat – they’ve delivered a fresh and wonderful collection of guitar music that has something for everyone, while still doubling down on what makes them, them . From indie-rock to shoegaze, from punk to pop-rock, In Love Again has it all, while Owen Williams and Lan McArdle’s signature harmonies and guitars consistently intertwine and noodle in your ears, anchoring the music in something that’s best described as never-not-Ex-Vöid.
Lead single and first track Swansea sets the tone – this is still punk, but we’ve softened around the edges a bit, a little more developed and a little more refined. Title track In Love Again hits a bit harder – there’s that noise-music we’ve come to know and love – but only just. In Love Again is an anthem, but it’s still Ex-Vöid – Lan and Owen’s vocals meld and merge and dance around each other, not unlike the twin guitars of Ronny Wood and Keith Richards do in the best of late seventies Rolling Stones. July follows, a rollicking pop-rock song, highlighted by bridge and chorus that’s a trojan horse of an earworm, complimented by Owen’s jangly lead guitar runs. Nightmare is a standout – another pop-rocker, this time mid-tempo and somewhat subdued, it’ll have you singing along immediately. Lan’s unique ethereal vocals really shine here.
Things get heavier again with shoegaze-inspired Pinhead, the album’s second single, and Ex-Vöid’s take on Lucinda William’s Lonely Girls. Almost indistinguishable from the original, the alt-country heartbreaker is reinvented; shortened, sped up, and infused with a small sense of hope.
The back half of In Love Again is three straight bangers and an acoustic coda. Sara and Strange Insinuation are the closest to Ex-Vöid’s first album Bigger Than Before – noise-punk roots in a pop-rock wrapper – but the penultimate Down The Drain is maybe the best song here. A straightforward pop rock song complete with jingle-jangle guitars, acoustic verses, and a very welcome coda reprising the instrumental with an extended guitar solo. It’s the one you’ll have on repeat for days.
Outline closes it out with a soft introspective touch. It’s the longest song on In Love Again, but it doesn’t feel like it, the 4 and a half minutes simply float by. The calm multi-layered vocals settle the listener, retroactively turning the album into a journey, one you didn’t realise you were on until you had a chance to catch your breath. Just as you do, the lead guitar rips through, giving you one last bit of noise music to send you on your way.
With their latest album, Ex-Vöid have masterfully shown there’s still new tricks in guitar music. With a little bit of courage and a lot more personality, the right group can make an album of pop-rock that’s familiar yet new, exciting yet comfortable. In Love Again is not only everything you want from guitar music, it’s also everything you didn’t know you needed.
In Love Again is out now from Tapete Records.
Download https://ex-void.bandcamp.com/album/in-love-again
Buy Vinyl via Rough Trade
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