Exit Calm - Exit Calm

Miss The Verve? We do too. Not the incarnation that reared its ugly head on their woeful ‘comeback’ album (said comeback lasted pretty long, right?!), ‘Forth’. Nor even the band that created the lawsuit-baiting ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’. We’re talking about The Verve. Y’know, from their ‘A Northern Soul’ days, when they were at their peak. Those of you who are of a like mind will rejoice at the emergence of Exit Calm (if you haven’t been doing so already), a South Yorkshire-based quartet who have basically picked up the torch Richard Ashcroft and company dropped after their second album and run with it.

This is quite obviously a good thing. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but this lot are every bit as good at what they do. Besides, you don’t hear all that much shoegaze these days, so it’s a welcome return for Bathing Everything in Delayed Guitars and Noise. There are several other reference points, however. There’s a sort of brittle beuaty to their self-titled debut that recalls the finest moments of the massively underrated Mancunians Puressence. Granted, frontman Nicky Smith doesn’t have half as good a voice as James Mudriczki, but it’s rather a lot more tolerable than Ashcroft’s, all things considered.

There’s a heavy emphasis on the rhythm section of Simon Lindley and Scott Pemberton throughout, tracks such the rumbling opener ‘You’ve Got It All Wrong’ and early highlight ‘We’re On Our Own’ possessing a strong presence due to the pair’s rock-steady connection. Recent single ‘Hearts and Minds’ features guitar work that’s oddly reminiscent of U2 - not the only thing the band take a leaf out of the Irish superstars’ book for either, as it features the record’s best chorus… which improves further when Smith helps it to achieve liftoff: ‘It’s a fight between the heart and mind’

The album may seem a daunting listen at first (its shortest song is five minutes long, and it runs to over an hour), and there are no standout hooks to be heard anywhere. However, the album’s made up of lots of smaller ones: a vocal part here, a drum pattern (beginning of ‘Recovery) there. ‘Exit Calm’ is not a record that jumps out at you; it’s more the kind of listen that slowly draws you in - an album you can lose yourself in for a while. It’s immersive and inspired, and strongly hints at better things to come.