Listen - Girls Names - The New Life - Full Album

Belfast-based four-piece girls names return with a bleak and brilliant adventure into doom-laden goth pop. the album's title track, and the first single to be taken from the album, is an ideal entry point. just shy of 8 minutes long, it rotates around a hypnotic bass line, and in cully's evocation of renaissance, offers a perfect metaphor for the album as a whole. 'hypnotic regression' reflects another side to the record. the reverb-heavy guitars and compelling melody are immediately memorable, but there are signs of experimentation, too; the white squall of the lead break; the uneasiness in the vocal echoes that furnish the verses. as such, 'the new life', stands as a brave statement; the mark of the band untying themselves from the past and easing forth into the unknown. on tough love in the uk and slumberland stateside.