Basement - 'Head Alight'
Basement smash it out of the park yet again with 4th single ‘Head Alight’ for brand new album ‘WIRED’ ahead of its release on May 8th.
Basement has been on an absolute tear the last few months, gearing up for their vastly anticipated new album ‘WIRED’, they have released 4 singles that have continued to build excitement in their own way. Every track covers ground the band has touched on before, but does so more completely and definitively than ever. With every single taking on a new sonic profile, it creates the picture of an expansive and truly brilliant album that covers all bases and ‘Head Alight’ is confirmation of this. With the first two singles being polar opposites, one brash and non-conforming and one mellow, nostalgic and colourful and the third single released at the end of last month being the perfect middle ground of angst and elegance. This created a balanced and eclectic sound, and now, with their final single before the album, they have proven that they can do just about anything.
‘Head Alight’ is a brilliantly spacious and verbose sound that sits on the slower, more dramatic end of their large catalogue. The dulcet and gorgeous one-note vocals are laid over a very indie-feeling effects background that is paired perfectly with some stretched and reverbed chords that create this dense and expansive atmosphere. This song could be played on repeat forever and would not even begin to get boring. Every listen contains a new surprise and fragment of joy as the layers and layers of guitar, bass and drums that have been intricately woven together blend seamlessly, allowing the sound to stay familiar and relatively simplistic while remaining a gift that keeps on giving. Basement have always been tight-knit musically, both their live performances and their recordings are synchronised down to the note, but this album takes that to an entire new level, they power through every track working in unison as a musical hive mind, every single note works with its counterpart in an almost scientific pattern. Someone needs to study the sheer talent contained within this band and try to convince them to start making jazz music just to see what happens.
As the release window pulls nearer and nearer it's clear that this album is going to explode, its already fizzing underneath the surface off of the back of these four symphonies, but with an in-store release show tour planned and a slew of listening parties, festival appearances and shows announced this year is bound to send them into the stratosphere and it’s about damn time. This Ipswich 5-piece has been infinitely hard working and dedicated to their craft since their initial releases over a decade ago and to see them finally get their flowers not just across the hardcore and alternative genres but to see them bleed into indie and pop influenced genres and absolutely nail it tells me that now is the time to get in so you can brag to your friends that you saw them in a 400 cap venue before they became megastars, because it's just over the horizon.
Words by Josh Pook
