Album Review: Spacey Jane – If That Makes Sense

A sensational improvement on Here Comes Everybody marked by jangling, bright guitar lines that duck and weave but don't leave the soundscape. Through My Teeth, for example, maintains a steady, upbeat propulsion all the way through, with synth joining in at the passionate chorus. Each song is intensely layered— How to Kill Houseplants ends with six separate guitar parts— rewarding the listener with each replay. Three months spent in the recording studio mean it's all impeccably produced.

All the Noise shows a grit and edge we haven't heard from Spacey Jane since their first EP, climaxing with one of their most compelling stanzas: "A getaway car with its brakes cut down the street/ Head full of nothing, a dream without sleep/ A promise that I would hurt everybody that I ever meet." It's probably the most interesting moment on the record, a departure from the swaying guitar pop all throughout. So Much Taller has similarly tense lyrics about being chased by the black dog: "You will never be enough, you will never be loved/ And the fact that you tried is embarrassing enough," which is followed by another glimmering chorus that, like their first album Sunlight, turns dreary situations into melodic gold. Whateverrrr is another highlight, featuring a hook so intuitive I was singing along perfectly on my very first listen. New sounds are thrown in the mix constantly: strings are used throughout, the band uses piano and auto-tune for the first time, and Estimated Delivery would otherwise be a lowkey acoustic ballad if it weren't for the breakbeat switch-up and super groovy guitar solo after the chorus.

Favourites: Through My Teeth, Whateverrrr, All the Noise, So Much Taller, The More That It Hurts, August