2020’s ‘NO’ was Boris’s attempt to look at the world in a positive way, and see the beauty. While listeners might look at the state of things around them and consider that an impossible task, spending time with ‘W’, their follow-up and companion album, may well convince them that amongst the darkness, there is indeed beauty.
Now in their 30th year as a band, W is their 27th studio album; you’d forgive any group this far into their career for retracing their steps. Not here though; ‘W’ sees Boris fully exploring the lighter side of their sound. Wata’s vocals have always been a key counterpoint to the heavier elements of Boris, and here they take the lead – ‘Icelina’ and ‘Drowning By Numbers’ have warped electronics wrapped around whispering ethereal lullaby vocals, more reminiscent of the shimmering ambience of Baths than the sludge of SunnO)).
But the delicate beauty of these moments is magnified when Boris push themselves to the other extreme; ‘Old Projector’ begins with a shoegaze grace, but fades out with earth-shattering guitars, while ‘The Fallen’, book-ended by the hymn-like ‘Invitation’ and ‘Beyond Good And Evil’, is as heavy and riff-laden as they’ve ever sounded.
8/10
Words: David Weaver
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