<p>- The huge resurgence in popularity for the ‘90s guitar indie sub-genre known as “shoegazing” has resulted in a wealth of young bands from all over the world clutching their copies of old <strong>Slowdive</strong> and <strong>My Bloody Valentine</strong> albums on the way to rehearsal. As a result, both of these acts have enjoyed a second wind, most notably Slowdive with their triumphant comeback album of 2017.</p>
<p>Ride’s return was somewhat more modest, their 2017 album (and their first in twenty-one years) <em>Weather Diaries</em> being a tentative toe-dip into former glories as opposed to a full immersion. They re-emerge with a much stronger collection of songs on their new studio album <em>This Is Not A Safe Place</em>.</p>
<p>While the millennial disciples of Ride clearly cherish the band’s early EPs and their classic 1990 debut album <em>Nowhere </em>above all else, the band themselves have been subtly experimenting with their sound ever since the more jangly pop flavours that emerged on 1992 follow-up <em>Going Blank Again</em>.</p>
<p>So while the hopeful are not about to hear anything as cavernous as <em>Dreams Burn Down</em> or <em>Drive Blind</em> on this new record, it is one of Ride’s most artful attempts yet in combining their echo-drenched guitars with outside influences such as electronica and folk.</p>
<p>There’s even humour as they fashion something of a theme tune on opening track <em>R I D E</em> – and a pretty groovy one at that. Recent single <em>Repetition</em> takes <strong>Mark Gardener</strong> and <strong>Andy Bell</strong>’s almost <strong>Pink Floyd</strong>-esque vocal harmonies and marries them to a genuinely thrilling psychedelic rocker enhanced further by a post-punk chorus that channels its energies to the dancefloor. </p>
<p>There’s more loveliness in the dreamy, hook-laden <em>Future Love</em>, while <em>Kill Switch</em> continues the up-tempo feel of <em>Repetition</em> but with a more sinister distorted buzz as its hook. <em>Clouds Of Saint Marie</em> is one of those breathtaking voice-and-guitar vistas that Ride have always done so well and fans will be pleased to learn there are numerous such moments peppered throughout the record.</p>
<p><em>Eternal Recurrence</em> is one of their more expansive moments, a ballad (albeit one with the pedals set to “stun”) that manages to sound melancholic and palatial at the same time. The album’s real epic is closing track <em>In This Room</em>, a slow burner that maintains attention throughout its nearly nine-minute running time with a swelling chorus and Ride’s almost unparalleled way in creating evocative musical arrangements. It’s a fitting way to end this diverse yet cohesive and hugely enjoyable record.</p>
<p>- Matt Thrower.</p>
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