When I was at school there was a rule of thumb that by a band’s third album, you’d start to see the real them. Three albums in, Canada’s Yoo Doo Right – Cober, Masson and Talbot – have really come up with the goods. ‘From the Heights of Our Pastureland‘ contains everything we’ve come to expect from the experimental trio, but this time there’s more killer melodies, pummelling drums, and coltish guitars.
The album opener ‘Spirit’s Heavy, But Not Overthrown (Part 1)’ begins with guitar feedback that sounds like planes nosediving and not pulling up. After a few minutes, it gives way to the sound of a choral organ and ‘Spirit’s Heavy, But Not Overthrown (Part 2)’, which is by design more subdued and melodic. The first thing you notice is the drumming; its sedate pace allowing the guitars and keyboards to noodle around, creating awesome melodies and a killer mood. What have we learned so far? Yoo Doo Right love making a racket which is always a good thing, but they prefer crafting brooding music with an emotional undertow.
The next three songs are where the album really comes into its own. ‘Eager Glacier’ opens with pounding drums, slowly searing guitars emerging from the speakers before the drums continue their propulsion. There’s a savage beauty to it. As the drums resonate, the synth work slowly coalesces to an all-consuming peak. The song lives up to its glacial billing; everything is slow-moving, enveloping and epic. Around the five-minute mark, the sonics fall away and a haunting two-note guitar riff kicks up before exploding into a full-on face melter. There’s something tender below the surface that prevents it from being an exercise in noise and confusion. The final minute of the song is not only a standout moment on the album but a culmination of Yoo Doo Right’s patented wall of sound creations.
‘Ponders Ends’ starts with a jaunty riff that plows into a killer melody. It’s a more comforting, cajoling song than the previous three. There’s a playfulness about the riffs and a melodic bounce that show Yoo Doo Right aren’t just doom merchants and can deliver something impish. At just under four minutes, ‘Lost in the Overcast’ is one of the shortest songs on the album; a contemplative slow-burn with wonky, wondrous melodies that get under your skin, and stuck in your mind.
On ‘From the Heights of Our Pastureland’, Yoo Doo Right have released their strongest album to date. It expands on their previous records whilst building outwards melodically. Normally when this happens music loses its bite, but here, Yoo Doo Right have the power and might of an orca. Thematically, the album is about the fallacy of progress; how it can hinder us rather than make things better. They capture that sense of non-linear momentum through sonic world-building, no more evident than on the nature-abiding title track which evokes an image of a high pasture on a mountain engulfed in fog. It’s where the inhabitants look down upon civilisation below and watch it burn, shaking their heads as they go about their pastoral duties. We do this as well, though we use our phones and computers to pass judgement. We’re starting to see who Yoo Doo Right are and what they stand for; a core message of theirs being the importance of community, ensuring our collective spirit isn’t dampened or overthrown. ‘From the Heights of Our Pastureland’ is a gutsy offering, one that will galvanize existing fans and win over new ones.
8/10
Words: Nick Roseblade
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‘From the Heights of Our Pastureland’ is out this Friday.
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