Hey Sholay - ((O))

Hey Sholay have been around for a while, yet ‘((O))’ (nope, I have no idea how to pronounce it either) is their first album. And as far as debuts go, it’s good; there’s no question about it. This record will certainly earn the Sheffield band new fans, particularly with its most recent single, the triumphantly danceable ‘My Blood’ doing the rounds on BBC 6 Music. But for those who’ve tracked Hey Sholay from the beginning, it feels like there’s not much to get your teeth into.

At a mere nine tracks and 44 minutes long, ‘((O))’ doesn’t feel like it contains enough new material to justify itself. The songs are fantastic, but they aren’t new. It’s almost lazy. Almost. Opener ‘Wishbone’ is an excellent way to start, catchy and full of yearning, with swirling sounds and the right amount of “oohs”. But it’s not new. And nor are ‘The Bears The Clocks The Bees’ or ‘Dreamboat’, although again, they are fantastic.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that the newer material is worse; but a lot of it is notably more of an acquired taste than an instantly catchy earworm. ‘Go Easy Tiger’ early on in ‘((O))’ is a bit of an exception, with a laid back soundscape and Liam’s vocals going just a bit deeper to match it. Two-parter ‘i) Shut The Devil Out The Back Door ii) A Day In The Country, Berlin’ is interestingly put-together, with the rainy background to the piano keys in the latter half random, but somehow still in keeping with the band’s style. Annoyingly it would fit better if it wasn’t immediately followed up by the fast-paced and bouncy charms of ‘Burning’, which take you out of one moment and throw you into another.

The synth-pop-with-a-dab-of-psychedelia that the band are good at is slowed down in ‘Ol’ St. Nick’, but then it all gets a bit weird in closer ‘Golden Is The Colour Of The Sun (Run Rabbit)’. The title probably should’ve been a giveaway. Taken as a whole, ‘((O))’ is a great yet mixed bag, one that probably could’ve been arranged better to make more sense. But maybe Hey Sholay don’t want to make sense. And that’s cool too.