The Telescopes – Of Tomorrow (2023) [FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Telescopes - Of Tomorrow (2023) [FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz] Download

The Telescopes are an all embracing concern that began in 1987, the only constant being sole composer/ instigator, Northumbrian born Stephen Lawrie. The band’s line-up is in constant flux, there can be anywhere between 1 and 20 members on a recording.

Of Tomorrow is the 15th album from The Telescopes, the fifth for Tapete. The album was created entirely by Lawrie at his studio in Shropshire, it is a departure from what the press often refer to as a ’wall of throb’ when describing the dense merge of noise and sound synonymous with most of The Telescopes output. Of Tomorrow marks a complete change in dynamics. Here we have the poetry of motion, solid grooves to the fore, leaving crystallised trails across a fluttering undercurrent of uplifting rhythm and hooks. Lawrie’s voice, usually treated as an instrument equal to the rest of the sound now takes the reins, engaging the listener in a melodic swirl of radiant harmony that speaks, sometimes in a whisper, of love as revolution. Every song on the album stands it’s ground, each one unique. Everything from the composition to the performance, arrangements and production are leaps beyond previous offerings.

This is an album to get lost in on the dance floor or headphones in equal measures.As the years went on and their discography grew, amorphous English noise rock assemblage the Telescopes fell more and more into the class of bands who were “always the same, always different.” The group’s perpetually shifting lineup and approach (haphazardly conducted by sole constant Stephen Lawrie) radically shifts forms from one album to the next without losing its core of dark intensity and moody, spaced-out jams. Fifteenth album Of Tomorrow wanders away slightly from the band’s signature murk and throbbing wall of sound, bringing vocals and fluttering electronic textures a bit more to the forefront but keeping a tight grip on their eerie, sprawling space rock sensibilities. Tracks like “Butterfly” and “Where Do We Begin?” are driven by rigid drum machine patterns and hypnotic bass lines, with Lawrie’s shadowy vocals oozing slowly over the songs. Flashes of unidentifiable electronics and off-time delays flit around the stereo field, sometimes confusing the steady rhythms and sometimes unintentionally locking in with them. The album expands on the strung-out sound the band have been refining since their late-’80s beginnings, combining the druggy drones of Spacemen 3 or Loop with a newfound attention to details. The songs the band were making even a few years earlier felt like getting hit with a bag of bricks. On Of Tomorrow, the Telescopes take the bricks out of the bag one by one, inspecting each one thoroughly before smashing their listeners with them sonically. The layers of sound are clearer, and gentle moments like the soft and nostalgic “Only Lovers Know” transmute Roy Orbison-era oldies songwriting into a weird robotic landscape where lifeless drum machines and digital reverb dance coldly around human feelings. Live drums help push along the Jesus and Mary Chain-esqe swagger of “(The Other Side)” and drawn-out closing track “Down by the Sea” is a perfect comedown for a record that’s often as sweet as it is disorienting. While Of Tomorrow might not seem too wildly removed from the rest of the band’s body of work on first listen, the space it carves out for subtle details and bleary emotional expressions makes it an album that requires closer inspection to grasp its full scope. – Fred Thomas

Tracklist:

01. The Telescopes – Butterfly (04:33)
02. The Telescopes – Everything Belongs (05:07)
03. The Telescopes – Where Do We Begin? (05:40)
04. The Telescopes – Only Lovers Know (04:18)
05. The Telescopes – (The Other Side) (03:55)
06. The Telescopes – Under Starlight (05:46)
07. The Telescopes – Down By The Sea (08:47)

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