ALBUM REVIEW: Love Is Noise – To live in a different way

‘…This is heavy music at its most beautiful, existing as a reminder that life is there to be lived, and the people around you are there to be loved…’

Perhaps one of the most hotly anticipated heavy records in the UK scene, last month finally saw the release of Love Is Noise’s debut record. The band have been gathering attention for their intense live performances and inventive yet relevant sound, with sold-out headline shows in London and a performance alongside scene legend Jason Aalon Butler.

The record represents an important step in frontman Cameron Humphries’ career, with the vocalist having been a member of a band once tipped to be the next big thing in heavy music. Accompanied by instrumental work from Tom Mellon and Louis Giannamore, alongside production from Kel Pinchin, what Humphries has masterminded with ‘To live in a different way’ truly feels like the moment Love Is Noise have truly blossomed.

Shoegaze-adjacent sounds have been all the rage within alternative spaces for quite some time now, yet few band have executed in a manner that feels refreshing or distinct. This, however, is precisely what Love Is Noise have managed to achieve. Walls of guitars shimmer with an air of mystique, percussion alternates between sparse suggestions of rhythm and thunderous, crushing blasts, and atop of it all Humphries delivers both soul stirring melodies and ferocious screams. This is no mere homage to idols, but a coalescence of musical ideas; this is the record that heavy music has attempted to make for years.

‘Devotion’ commences the album with huge Britpop melodies and an instrumental marked by a chunky bass line and distorted guitars; a gorgeous guitar solo in the bridge leads perfectly into a euphoric closing chorus, with Humphries’ vocals dancing with his upper register. ‘Soft Glow’ pushes deeper into the band’s heavy territory, with glorious, summery instrumentals and declarations of pure adoration colliding with powerful screams and walls of blast-beats. If any track is to sum up the beautiful brutality of this record best, then it may well be this one.

‘take.one.minute’ is a beautiful plea to live with an open heart, decorated with a sparkling synth arpeggio loop, alongside a moving spoken word passage in the back half. ‘It hurts to know you’re there’ sees Humphries once again utilising his truly magnificent upper register, which only makes the raw emotion of this track hit even harder; the addition of gently sweeping strings during the track’s climax is shiver-inducing.

The title track is perhaps the most perfect encapsulation of the themes that underline this record, as Humphries declares ‘Tonight we open our hearts, open our hearts/Tonight, tonight we open up every scar’; to love without fear is perhaps the most potent sentiment that can be derived from this record, and one that is conveyed beautifully. All of this culminates in the six minute epic that is ‘Ascending’, as Humphries seeks to remind that our time is fleeting and life should not be filled with regrets; the end should serve to catalyse the desire to live at all costs (‘I am worthy of love, I am worthy of respect/I am no longer afraid of the end that’s right in front of me’).

‘To live in a different way’ is a triumph, and not simply a musical one. In a different life, Humphries would long already be a household name in alternative spaces. Yet through his persistence and drive, and the hard work of his fellow musicians that have joined him on this journey, that time may well have finally arrived. To have not surrendered to circumstances that may have crushed one’s own faith is truly commendable, and the art at the end of that journey resonates with the blinding hope Humphries has carried.

There is little doubt that ‘To live in a different way’ will be featured in plenty of end of year listings. This is heavy music at its most beautiful, existing as a reminder that life is there to be lived, and the people around you are there to be loved, no matter the cost and no matter the fear. Despair can wait for another day.

RATING: 85/100 – Mostly Excellent

For Fans Of: Loathe, Oasis, Modern Error, Sleep Token, Casey, Deftones

Physical copies are available to purchase here.

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify