Frightened Rabbit - Death Dream

The return of Frightened Rabbit being somewhat of a departure isn’t a surprise. In the time since 2013’s ‘Pedestrian Verse’ they’ve lost a member, and frontman and founder Scott Hutchinson has released a solo album as Owl John and moved across the Atlantic to settle in the US. ‘Death Dream’, the song from which the band’s new album ‘Painting Of A Panic Attack’ takes its name, harbours the same emotional weight as the band are used to, but it’s missing the self-deprecating humour that pierced the likes of ‘Poke’ and ‘My Backwards Walk’ - still serious, but now with the straightest of faces. Producer Aaron Dessner of The National’s input can be felt here too, and Hutchinson’s sometimes whispered vocals add mystery to the band’s usual bluntness. Whether material closer to ‘Pedestrian Verse”s radio flirter ‘The Woodpile’ will appear alongside ‘Death Dream”s gloom on ‘Painting..’ is unclear, and the opening track poses more questions than it answers, but Frightened Rabbit’s initial return sees them as hard-hitting as ever.