Arcane Roots – Landslide
It might only be four-tracks of reworked previously-released songs, but the Kingston trio showcase a fresh array of sounds across a dreamy EP
Having been so highly praised for their most recent LP Melancholia Hymns, Arcane Roots have been making a real name for themselves in the world of rock music recently.
Their newest release, Landslide serves up an EP which offers something quite different to its predecessor, mind you. Where Melancholia Hymns was brash, rich in expansion and ferociously animated, Landslide is stripped back, subdued and almost dreamy. The four-track collection takes three songs from the previous album (Before Me, Matter and Off the Floor) and completely refreshes them with a favourable dollop of floating, cloud-like synthesisers and fizzing, storm-soaked basslines. For the most part, all three are unrecognisable from their original counterparts, with the fresh touch-ups giving what were already solid tracks a brand new, heavy-tech light.
There’s also a little treat in the addition of a new song by the EP’s namesake. This is the only track that carries a bit more guile and grit than the reworks and focuses more on sombre shimmering lead guitars with an almighty climax of bursting screams and blazing distortion which is very welcome on a record that favours computer-production instead of rustic, raw instrumentation. Still, the inclusion of similar bustling electronics masked behind the grizzle allows it to slot perfectly on the EP overall.
As enjoyable as the four songs are, there’s only so much excitement you can feel for an EP of majorly reworked pieces. Either way, Landslide is enough to tide us over and keep the buzz going for whatever these guys do next.
Listen to: Matter (Revel), Landslide, Off the Floor (Fade)