ALBUM REVIEW: Douse – Hypophora

For all that the United Kingdom faces an uncertain future on a global scale, its presence in the alternative music world grows ever stronger on a daily basis. The amount of bands from our island climbing the bills on festivals and playing to bigger rooms across the planet is incredibly heart-warming, and the plethora of excellent outfits that have emerged over the past 18-24 months is enough to keep things going for a long time to come. For Cornwall’s HYPOPHORA, this journey begins properly on Friday with the release of debut album Douse, out via Easy Action/Zen Ten Records.

The beauty of young, up-and-coming bands is the excitement and passion felt across their records; there’s an energy and presence that just doesn’t appear with established acts. Douse has this in spades; in fact, this could be one of the best post rock records you’ll hear in the whole of 2018. HYPOPHORA have incorporated a lot into here – the nu metal bounce in Sorcerers, the blues feel of Etoliate and the mellow, relaxing tones of Smiling (Numb) to name but three – and yet none of it seems out of place with the overall feel of the album. The lyrics are well measured and intelligent as well, Headlines in particular provoking a lot of thought.

Perhaps the two biggest highlights feature in the middle of the album; the first is Spires, currently their highest viewed video on YouTube, which contains a big riff from guitarist Karum Cooper and mixes MARMOZETS with BIFFY CLYRO quite superbly. The other is the following song, To Hear; Listen, elevated by the sheer excellence of vocalist Katie McConnell who turns in her strongest performance across the whole record, a feat even more remarkable given that she is consistently brilliant over all eleven tracks. It’s not a perfect record though. Cars Run on Friendship doesn’t quite hit the heights of the rest, but the record finishes on a high with Ordinary, a song packed with heart and expanse that sums up everything good about HYPOPHORA perfectly in the space of six minutes.

If there is any justice, HYPOPHORA will gain momentum like a runaway freight train off the back of Douse and become a major force in the UK over the rest of the year and into 2019. Brimming with potential and a band one could easily see gracing the Main Stage at the likes of 2000 Trees and Arctangent, they’re off to a flyer with their debut effort and are only going to get bigger and better.

Rating: 8/10

Douse is set for release on September 21st via Easy Action/Zen Ten Records.

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