Album Review: The Danse Society - "Sailing Mirrors"

 

Now here's one of the more unexpected comebacks of 2020. Barnsley goth/post-punk types (although their Bandcamp page now has them based in Scarborough) the Danse Society achieved a degree of low level chart success in the mid-'80s, mainly with their Heaven Is Waiting single and album and I honestly had no idea they had reformed.

In terms of their sound though, it's pretty clear from the icy guitars, jumpy post-punk bassline and nervy vocals on opener Dance Away Your Love that the band are very much sticking to their tried and tested sound although the new 21st century version now has a female vocalist in Maethelyiah who occupies an interesting middle ground somewhere between Siouxsie and the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser (with maybe a slight hint of Bjork in there as well). The atmospheric title track sees them sailing into more melodramatic waters to decent enough effect but it does come across as a bit overblown at times. Thankfully the pounding guitars of Valerio's Theme and the nervy post-punk rhythms of Hiding In Plain Sight are on hand to drag things back on track afterwards.

Kill U Later takes things into the epic realms of Echo & The Bunnymen while And I Wonder If goes back into moody ballad territory but just to say keeps it on the right side of going too far down the overwrought route. The driving guitars and spaced-out vocals of Invincible are better before the brooding Hypnotise and the frenetic We Fall guide things home nicely.

Sailing Mirrors doesn't quite hit the target every time but it does at least update the classic Danse Society sound for the 21st century. There's enough here to keep old fans happy while it sounds contemporary enough to maybe lure a few new ones in as well. You can check it out at the Danse Society Bandcamp page (which also has their classic '80s output on it as well) if you're curious.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)