Amyl and the Sniffers - Comfort To Me

On ‘Comfort To Me’, Amyl and the Sniffers realise the most widescreen vision of their particular brand of punk to date. The moment that opening salvo ‘Guided By Angels’ sprints into view, something clicks. All the elements of the band’s sound up until now are present and correct, but subtly different. They’ve found their purpose. Amy Taylor is still possessed of an instantly-familiar drawl, but it’s now in the service of her self-realisation. She speaks of “protect[ing] my energy” and “never hold[ing] on to the misery”. Never before would mindfulness be high on the list of likely topics for Amy and co. to turn their minds to, but somehow the music and message work in perfect tandem with one another. Album closer ‘Snakes’ is the perfect example. What begins as a window into Amy’s childhood segues into a manifesto for the album as a whole: “I submit to change”. Coming in at thirteen tracks, ‘Comfort To Me’ feels slightly overwrought - there’s a track or two that don’t add much to the album’s direction, ‘Maggot’ being one of them. But on the whole, this feels like Amyl and the Sniffers finding their purpose. It’s something to behold.