Tuesday 14 May 2019

Spotlights - Love & Decay (Album Review)



Release date: April 26th 2019. Label: Ipecac Recordings. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Love & Decay – Tracklisting

1.Continue The Capsize 05:31
2.The Particle Noise 04:56
3.Far From Falling 07:27
4.Until The Bleeding Stops 05:27
5.Xerox 03:23
6.The Age of Decay 05:23
7.Mountains Are Forever 05:41
8.The Beauty of Forgetting 10:54
9. Sleepwalker (CD & VINYL BONUS TRACK)

Members

SARAH QUINTERO // BASS VOCALS
MARIO QUINTERO // GUITAR VOCALS PROGAMMING
CHRIS ENRIQUEZ // DRUMS

Review

Greetings All,

My first encounter with Brooklyn, NY’s Spotlights was with last years excellent Hanging by Faith EP that I got to review for the site. That was a killer EP and an excellent introduction to the band, so I jumped at the chance to check out their awesome new record, Love & Decay. 

Spotlights is an incredible band that are kind of tough to categorize, they are self described “Dream Sludge” which is an excellent description, as that is what I had jotted in my notes prior to checking their bio. Dreamy, atmospheric, and heavy. I’m reminded quite often of the subdued moments of the Deftones, with a heaping helping of Sonic Youth style dissonance, and some of My Bloody Valentine’s shoegazey riffage.

Continue The Capsize opens the record with a nice big riff that breaks into a synth driven, breathy vocaled charmer. The band kicks the groove in with the start/stop rock of The Particle Noise. A spacey, acoustic sound opens Far From Falling before the track explodes into a bass heavy monster. The heavy bass continues with Until the Bleeding Stops that has some stellar detached vocals. The band shows some quick strike power with Xerox that features a massive driving riff and killer rhythmic vibe.

A synth heavy intro brings the righteous The Age of Decay that is the perfect lead in to the my favorite track on the album Mountains Are Forever. The song explodes with uptempo drums and riff before slowing down midway before it picking back up to an epic close. A synth sounding drum intro brings the acoustic driven epic, The Beauty of Forgetting, that morphs into a drum heavy beast. The heaviness of Sleepwalker brings the album to a close with synths and impassioned vocals that climax with a huge synth and feedback laden close.

Love & Decay is an impressive, inspired record. It is layered with nuances showing themselves upon each subsequent listen. Spotlights beautifully balance, dissonance with heaviness like few other bands can. This record is a straight ahead rock record but with something more and that something can be found in the hazy, empty bliss of a lost dream. I am a huge fan of Spotlights, and you should be as well. Check out Love & Decay, you will not be disappointed!


- Todd S - Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou

Words by Todd Stealey

Thanks to James at Rarely Unable PR for the promo. Love & Decay is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl now.

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