Album Review
Turin Brakes – Spacehopper
Spacehopper is the tenth studio album from South London indie rock band Turin Brakes. It was recorded in Konk Studios where they made their 2001 debut album, The Optimist LP, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The hope was to recapture something of the past, and the process appears to have succeeded. Spacehopper is a good collection of songs that feels both reflective and relaxed.
This is the first Turin Brakes release in three years. It was produced by the band alongside Grammy winner Guy Massey, who has worked with artists including Kylie Minogue and Ed Sheeran. The eleven tracks on the album provide a fair amount of sonic variety, but the signature sound and layered vocal harmonies that are typical of the band’s work are evident throughout. Nostalgia is the common link, and the calm feelings invoked leave the sense of a band at ease with itself.
Opener The Message sets the tone with a nostalgic look back to childhood days of long afternoons listening to FM radio. Pays To Be Paranoid sees the tempo increased in an alt-country influenced song about the dangers of an increasingly digital world. This is followed by the title track, also the album lead single, with its classic sound telling of long summer childhood days.
Almost has a more downbeat feel, reflecting on bands that didn’t quite make the big time, while Lullaby has a diving guitar sound at odds with its title. The highlights of the album come towards the end, with the thoughtful Old Habits giving an Americana feel to its message that following familiar processes can still lead to progress, and the closing What’s Underneath, which provides a stylish conclusion to the album. At over six minutes long this is almost twice the length of most of the tracks on the album and features some great guitar work.
Spacehopper is a good collection of songs with lyrics that merit some close attention. Their reflective nature shows that the band is conscious of both its past and present creations, and continues to demonstrate originality in its sound. A full UK tour is planned for November to promote this very good new release.
Release date: 23 May 2025
Label: Cooking Vinyl