ALBUM REVIEW: The World Can’t Take Much More – Reclus.É
RECLUS.É is the new band from Soren Bryce (TUMMYACHE) and Daniel P. Carter, and their debut album, The World Can’t Take Much More, is a true meeting of minds. Melding the cinematic with the urgent, the album blends darkness with dreaminess and packages it all with a keen sense of imminence.
Swirling between intense, frenetic outbursts and lush, ethereal soundscapes, the push and pull is constantly at work on the album. Opening track A Muted TV throws you right into the fray, and moves between hypnotic melodies and attention demanding outbursts. This tension is on display throughout the album as Soren’s vocals masterfully pull between the impassioned screams of “are you happy? Are you feeling alive? I bit my tongue all the time ” on Belly Of The Whale, and the melodic breathy tones of tracks like All Bark No Bite.
In these two sounds, RECLUS.É pull from alt-rock and shoegaze textures to build the warm, swirling compositions. The World Can’t Take Much More sounds directly plucked from the 90s. The heaviness beneath the guitar tones and swirling atmosphere on tracks like Headstart Season and Cold Candles situate you right in the world of PORTISHEAD, THE STONE ROSES and THE CURE.
Equally, they’ll also punch you in the face with a hardcore infused track in the vein of FUGAZI or BAD BRAINS. These incendiary moments offer some of the album’s highlights. Isolationist is a true standout in its unruly frenzy and piercing commentary on the current political landscape. Unrelenting drums kick beneath the track, and Soren’s vocals absolutely tear out. Similarly, there is an undeniable attitude that laces the explosive “I got the message you never needed me” on Dogs. There’s plenty to stomp to, and plenty of fury beneath it all.
What could easily be an album of two separate halves finds its voice in the tension between the two. Penultimate track Waste Not Want Not opens with an entrancing melody layering into the lush, warm and entrancing textures we’ve come to be familiar with on the album. By its bridge, it erupts into a frenzy of anger, frustration and urgency. It’s this exact journey between these states that closing track Swarm amplifies. The longest track on the album, its atmospheric pull takes you on a journey through it all, building into a loud, explosive ending, only to cap the album off with the gentle sound of birdsong.
The World Can’t Take Much More is a stunning debut from RECLUS.É. Melding influences and sounds, and utilising the constant push and pull as an asset, they present an album that is constantly shifting and always urgent. RECLUS.É will pull you into their hypnotic world, and shake you to your core in the process.
Rating: 8/10
The World Can’t Take Much More is out now via Rise Records.
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