With their debut album, Leeds-based band Din of Celestial Birds have created something really rather special indeed!
On paper, making Post-Rock-music seems simple enough, play some Ambient bits, mix with a crescendo and hey presto you have some Post-Rock (I guess you could argue making most music is like this but hey, stick with me on this). The amount of bands doing just this is myriad, however, and here is the rub, doing it well is difficult, doing it brilliantly is exceedingly hard and rare. The big names in the genre have risen to the top for a reason, it’s because they create music with something to say, which is bloody tough, when you don’t normally have a vocalist. I honestly think now it’s time to add another band to this top tier group of bands, and only after one release! “Simon” I hear you say, “you have gone crazy if you think that’s the case!” I’m sure you are all saying that right now´, but no, I’ve not taken leave of my senses, this album is amazing, but let me elaborate slightly.
The album opens with “Utopia” as apt a title as any song I’ve ever heard. It’s joyous and brimming over with feel good vibes, it’s the aural equivalent of a cute puppy bounding through an open field with the wind in its hair. It’s catchy hooks barrel along with such enthusiasm, you can’t help but get swept along by it, and when the heavier guitars make an appearance near the end of the song, well, it’s stupefyingly, jaw-droppingly good.
Next song “Junebug” opens with lively bouncy energy, expanding and building, inching ever higher, until it collapses into a gorgeous piano driven segment, after which the rest of the band decide to join in and it really puts its foot down and goes all in, in the most gloriously cinematic heavy way imaginable.
The way this band manipulate their instruments is a joy to behold, each taking their turn to shine but never in a showy or gratuitous manner. The three-guitar-attack of Andie Gill, Tom Hazlehurst and Chris Core is the band’s not so secret weapon. The rich tapestry of three distinctive sounds gives such a layered presence to the music, it’s a genuine pleasure to listen to and better still, each listen unearths something previously hidden beneath, lurking in plain sight, dancing away and just waiting for you to discover it.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the centrepiece of the album and the towering achievement that is “Laureate of an American Lowlife”. Inspired by the writing of Charles Bukowski (even having a sample of the man himself) this song stands majestic in its execution. I’m still not sure how they manage to extract so much emotion from one song, it’s alchemy I tell you! Swinging from the heft of crushing riffs to glorious minimalism with consummate ease; in one song the band have created something truly stunning, capturing the essence of man behind the song’s inspiration and crystallising it into sonic form, it’s staggeringly good.
The entire album holds up a mirror to the human condition, and shines a light on everything (good and bad) which comes with that, the joyous moments are tinged with sadness, the creepier moments still have a sense of hope and wonder which is a testament to the skill of the musicians involved. It’s a colossal album which aims for the stars and honestly, sails right past them. If this album doesn’t make my end of year list, I’m going to be mightily surprised, it’s got everything which makes me love music contained in its runtime, it’s utterly brilliant.
