Loathe have released their fourth album A Stranger to You after six years, a radical departure from their metalcore roots that blends granite-hard riffs with balm-like electronics, acoustic guitars, shoegaze, and jazz piano. The album features guest appearances from rapper Bucki Sugar, vocalist Olli Appleyard of Static Dress, production duo Nowhere2run, and jazz-soul producer Jordan Rakei.
A Bold Genre Odyssey
The album ventures far from the Liverpudlians' origins, creating an odyssey of mixed and colliding genres. Punishing riffola and slabs of industrial noise coexist with gentle atmospherics, tinkling jazz pianos, and spoken-word narratives. Bucki Sugar's contributions include the line "ever forward, forever motion." Precedents for such radical metal departures include Deafheaven's Ordinary Corrupt Human Love and Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns, but Loathe make even more musical handbrake turns.
Standout Tracks and Influences
Block of Flats hurtles between gentle atmospherics and guttural vocals. Fortress Down and Meet My Maker suggest a slightly heavier Muse. Harder to Pretend recalls Herbie Hancock's early 70s jazz fusion, while The Way It Breaks haunts as effectively as Disintegration-era Cure. Heavy tracks like Gemini and Revenant remain granite-hard, but the frequent metamorphosis is underpinned by excellent songwriting.
A Thrilling Ride
The wildest curveball is the plaintive The Ladder, an astonishingly beautiful love song. According to the band, they wanted to make this album very special. In lesser hands, this could have been a ragbag, but Loathe's bold vision is masterfully executed, making for a thrilling ride where you never expect what's coming next.
