Patterns - Waking Lines

It’s been a long time since the internet hype machine went crazy for Manchester’s Patterns, but on balance that’s probably a good thing; keeping their heads down and working on their debut album in the interim has hopefully left them with a more durable record than might have otherwise been the case.

However, though the quality of this album is unmistakeable, it has to be said that on closer inspection several out of the ten tracks have already been released. ‘Wrong Two Words’ and ‘Broken Trains’ both hail from their spine-tingling debut EP, while ‘Induction’ and shoegaze-pop masterpiece ‘Blood’ have both already come out on Melodic as 7’ singles.

Of the new tracks, ‘Face Marks’ is the kind of woozy, Animal Collective-like pop that they made their name on, while the superior ‘Street Fires’ is an evocative, atmospheric number with an excellently understated off-kilter drum hook.

Throughout, there’s little to tell between verses and choruses in terms of melodic quality, and the whole is actually rather startlingly beautiful at times. What it lacks perhaps in originality, it certainly more than delivers in getting, keeping and rewarding the listener’s attention.