GULP’S ETHEREAL THIRD ALBUM ‘BENEATH STRAWBERRY MOONS’ IS THE EASIEST FIVE STARS OF THE YEAR SO FAR
ALBUM REVIEW | GULP – BENEATH STRAWBERRY MOONS by Martha Munro
After a seven-year-long break, psych-pop favourites Gulp are well and truly back with their short-n-sweet new record, Beneath Strawberry Moons, released Friday 29th August, teeming with character and blending the old with the new like it’s nothing. Proudly describing it as ‘hyperlocal’ and ‘low carbon,’ Gulp crafted this album as a breath of fresh, cold, salty air straight from the bracing coasts of Fife, Scotland, where the band’s playmakers Lindsey Leven and Guto Pryce live. Fans of Saint Etienne, Wolf Alice and DIVORCE – you won’t want to miss this record of ‘transition, hope and space.’
Opening number ‘Sea Bear’ introduces Beneath Strawberry Moons with a dub-bass and spacey synth foundation. It’s haunting, like the soundtrack to an 80s mystery movie, an impression only strengthened by Leven’s irresistible vocals with all their haze and personality. As some guitar and drum lines filter in and the fairy-like vocals reach higher and higher, a Mazzy–Star-esque atmosphere is created, before acoustic strings are then spotlighted in a waltzing beat. There’s a magic, a hypnosis, to Gulp’s instrumental refrains, much like those of Fiona Apple or Lana Del Rey, just magical in their eerie addictiveness. It’s smoky, sentimental, halloween-ish: an expert opener.
Next up is ‘Always So Far’, a folkier, guitar-twanged number that was hush-released earlier this year. This is such a strong track, clear from the get-go with its many layers of wafer-thin harmony, which only grow in strength when the full chorus comes in. Still, the sound holds an airiness to it, yet somehow also achieves a rich depth, creating a truly brilliant, slow, sultry rock song, with hypnotic refrains of “Far, far / Always so far.” It’s all the rustic grooves of the 90s mixed with modern-rock guitar – an undeniable stand-out.
‘Salt Years’ – opening and closing with the twittering sounds of birds – immediately has a more 21st century sound, with indie-beach electric patterns founding the music in fast-paced ripples. Leven’s vocals sound much like those of Ellie Rowsell’s in this number, and the lyrics, instrumentation and composition all seem to stem from a seaside stimulus: soft summers, breezy beaches, winding slow dances on the sand. Similarly, the following track and single ‘Hope Shines Through The Haar’ is also inspired by the sea, musing on the importance of supporting one another and looking to the light through the ‘haar’ (‘sea mist’ in Scottish). A blanket of woven, psychedelic electronica runs underneath the melodies, featuring vintage grit and folky flute. It’s repetitive, but not boring. Instead, the hypnotic motifs have a warm, comforting, affirming effect on the listener – “We are looking out for each other.”
Fifth track ‘The Way We Live’ could be a spy film soundtrack feature with its warp-rock guitar, atmospheric drum build-up and smooth, sultry bass. This forms the intro, which the band lets play out for a while, allowing the deep, seductive sound to take root before the lyrics come in. The vocals are simple and confident, and the chorus has such a euphoric lift to it – “Fragile dreamer / Turning heads to see / The way that we live.” The mixing is expert too, with the guitar sparkling through the rest of the sound to make this refrain feel like an opening. Adorned with electronic 80s impacts and a haunted guitar solo, this track breathes style and oozes ease.
Up next is the third and final single ‘Wildflower’: a fairy’s take on calypso. With tender lyrics that touch on growth, youth and parenthood – “Love you into the golden sunrise of your cry” – this track is weirder, braver, upbeat and teeming with percussion. While the other singles may stand out more compositionally, this one is by far the most fun. More sentimentality comes with the following track Summer Storm, in which, for the first time in Gulp’s history, we hear Leven’s music wizz partner Guto Price singing. His voice, with much of the same effortless, raw quality as that of DIVORCE’s Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, blends effortlessly with the more whimsical Leven, inviting the listener into an intimate, unexplored space. The strings and strolling percussion are heavenly too, with indie-style electric guitar breaks diversifying the sound and spacey, electric keys dotted about this dazzling duet.
Penultimate track ‘Someday In A City’ opens with distant, abstract, water-droplet effects before the full sound picks up in a similar style to the previous track, if a bit more energised. Here, the musicians experiment more with different rhythms and mixing, and the result is a super spacey sound, almost teasing in its rising and falling volume, ebbing and flowing intensity. Most prominent at this point in the album is the modern rock style; there’s a high level of clarity in the instrumentation where the vocals remain in that retro, smoky space. It’s captivating, bold and brilliant.
And finally, the closer, ‘Ultramarine Blue’. This time, the vocals are reeled in by siren-like backing harmonies, again reinforcing that natural, oceanic inspiration at the heart of Beneath Strawberry Moons, along with the pixie-like skip of the acoustic guitar. The harmonies – as they have consistently been throughout the album – are blissful, blanketed with a slow-dance-perfect ballroom backing. The star of the show is the trumpet that enters in the later, fuller stages of the song, almost woodwind-like in its gentleness. With masterful precision, this track brings the record to its harmonious end.
Not much more needs to be said about this triumphant release. Despite the fact that this project is comprised of only nine numbers, it seems, in some ways, to achieve more than a longer album might. Sonically, it takes risks (which, without a shadow of a doubt, pay off) but the overall feeling left with the listener is one of comfort, of satisfaction, only achievable with pure talent and a real passion for creation and catharsis. It’s safe to say that Gulp have left nothing to be desired with Beneath Strawberry Moons.
Beneath Strawberry Moons is set for release Friday 29th August via ELK Records and you can pre-order/save HERE
You can also catch Gulp live on limited live dates next month:
- Fri 5 Sep – Glasgow, Glad Cafe
- Sat 6 Sep – Dunfermline, Outwith Festival
- Fri 12 Sep – Bethesda, Ara Deg Festival
- Sat 13 Sep – Todmorden, Golden Lion
