The Horrors - Luminous

The Horrors
Luminous
5 May 2014
XL

3 stars out of 5

 

Luminous is the fourth LP by England’s The Horrors, and it explores much of the same fog-shrouded, reverb-obscured ‘80s goth pop of their previous albums. It’s not quite as noisy and edgy as their 2009 LP Primary Colours, instead opting at times for a more dancefloor-ready sound (“In and Out of Sight”) and some sunnier tunes and textures (“So Now You Know”). The result is that The Horrors have given us a superficially pleasant if ultimately unsatisfying record.

Luminous is full of very catchy and pretty things, such as the slightly rock ‘n’ roll-ish “Falling Star” and the Psychedelic Furs-meet-Simple Minds tribute “I See You.” The problem with most of these songs is that they head straight for the gates which guard the path of least resistance. This is the route that some goth and post-punk bands took in the late ‘80s: get rid of all the edges and go straight for the pop. The difference here is that The Horrors are aiming for Superstition without bothering with Kaleidoscope or Hyæna first.

Ultimately, Luminous comes off as more of an exercise in genre and style than as a collection of real compositions. Every song is permeated by the feeling that you’ve heard it before, perhaps many times. While it still may true that there’s nothing new under the sun, The Horrors have proven here that there’s also nothing new under the fog.

reviewed by Richard Krueger