blanket: The Past Is A Teacher
There’s a fine line between the realms of cinema and music. Both have the capacity to move and inspire, to shock and to comfort, and it is only expected that rock and metal’s propensity for theatrics would cause such worlds to collide. Blackpool-hailing quartet BLANKET has been playing god with such forces since their 2017 debut EP, Our Brief Encounters, and have since built upon their sonic foundations to establish their own exciting world of medium-mixing madness. In 2021, however, the band takes their, already, broad horizons into vaster, grander territory – extending their defiance of traditional labels and embracing a new form of ‘heavy’. As leading minds behind such an impressive vision, guitarist/vocalist Simon Morgan and bassist Matthew Sheldon invite us into the world of Modern Escapism.
Modern Escapism, the band’s second venture between the silver screen and the studio walls, is a far darker, more visceral re-imagining of BLANKET. Where their debut LP, How To Let Go, was largely instrumental and awash with uplifting, sonorous post-rock soundscapes, Modern Escapism ushers in a new era of the band’s sound where their ability to move listeners comes from a much less forgiving place. “Emotionally, especially considering the heaviness of it, this album is definitely darker,” Simon explains. “And because it’s darker and heavier, and more challenging I love just playing these songs because of the challenges that it poses to every one of us when we try and play.” With their thoughts in tandem, Matthew jumps in to add, “oh it’s definitely a fun record to play. You mentioned it being darker and there’s definitely an element of anger with the world as we were recording and that comes onto the album naturally.”
This is not a statement to be taken lightly. Modern Escapism’s shift from BLANKET’s course of instrumentally-focused arrangements comes with a scathing narrative of the world’s obsession with each other’s virtual lives; something only exacerbated by the recent lockdowns. Simon explains, “thematically, we ended up calling it Modern Escapism because it’s everyone’s sort of obsession with everyone else’s lives on social media, and wherever else everyone is; always. Everyone else’s lives have been sort of forced down your throat. And basically, that’s all you do. You’re not really living in your own moment.”
But how did we reach such a fully-formed vision, how did BLANKET take such a huge step, sonically, and launch their talent into fresh ears? Simon notes that, “BLANKET existed on an iMac for a little while,” and their journey from such humble beginnings to being snatched up by Sony giants Music For Nations was an auspicious leap for “a weird little post-rock band from Blackpool” and from there the only way was up. The triumphant debut, How To Let Go, secured their position in the scene’s underbelly and yet writing their breakthrough wasn’t as simple as the band may have imagined. “The follow-up album we wrote wasn’t actually Modern Escapism,” Simon begins with a grin. “It was actually another second album which we still love but more in line with RADIOHEAD and BON IVER; definitely not as heavy as this one. We still love it all the same, and we’ve even played a couple of the songs from it on tour but I don’t think it was the right direction.”
The right direction, in fact, came from a switch up of personnel. Simon continues, “our original drummer left and then our new drummer, Aiden, came in and his ferocity behind the drum kit changed the way we wrote. It’s no slight on our old drummer, he’s a great drummer, but Aiden was a different style. He was heavier and just more intense and that shaped Modern Escapism into what it is.” Fellow axeman Matthew elaborates, “there were song ideas or riffs that we just laughed off at first for being ‘too heavy for BLANKET’ but then once Aiden was in place we thought ‘well, why not?’”
It’s clear that such an evolution in sound, introducing elements of shoegaze and even black metal to BLANKET’s eclectic concoction, are the results of the band pushing at their own boundaries with no issue in being introspective. Matthew admits, “when we looked back at the previous album there were times when we took the easy route of repeating parts that maybe aren’t as interesting; I think Modern Escapism is a far more interesting album by being creative with our past.”
The results are undeniable. With more than double the prep time taken for their first record and an eruptive guest feature from UK rising titans LOATHE, BLANKET have successfully carved out their own spot – still proudly defiant against being pigeonholed – in the UK metal scene as masters of savagery and glorious cinematics. Deftly fine-tuned, a wonder to succumb to, Modern Escapism is by and large the band’s greatest feat and will serve as one of this year’s finest musical endeavours. BLANKET may not place themselves in a single genre, but they have a home wherever they may roam.
Modern Escapism is out now via Music For Nations.
Like BLANKET on Facebook.