Some Images of Paradise - i expect the same of u Review

The state of rock in the internet era remains that of displacement. While file-sharing and music forums innovations have been far-reaching, their impacts have always seemed to extend more towards the world of rap and electronica. The rock band has always been a thing of the scene, and even though more teen garage bands than ever in the history of music will be citing the likes of Swans and Throbbing Gristle as influences, these still seem a few steps backwards. For all the knowledge the internet era has brought, it's rare to find a guitar band innovating, at least not without a clear lack of emotional involvement. But of course, there are exceptions; there are young artists whose takes on art rock exist fully immersed in the small remaining slivers of radical potential within the internet. On their debut, i expect the same of u, Limerick’s some images of paradise haven’t positioned themselves as innovators, this is a record far too immediate and emotionally cathartic to be taken as anything but a work of pure passion, but in their approach to form, innovators they’ve proven themselves to be. It’s a work radical in both its sonics and its sincerity.

At their core, the band are capturing a sensation as old as time. The dissociation of the modern age. The sensation of being lost between the spaces of the world, though now restructured to represent the moment we live in. While earlier screamo releases nailed the sensation of small-town us misery, the brief catharsis found within scenes, and the reaping intensity of adolescent emotion, Paradise transplants those feelings into the internet era. Opener ‘When I’m Gone’ is a work of dissociative blues. Its ambient pop captures the dreamy melancholia of classic indie, only to bring in a subtle electronic throb that rephrases the sensation from the sound of a lonely, windswept room into the isolation of the internet world. The throbbing synths, glistening keys, and pulsing drums capture both the infinite glimpses offered by a computer screen and the moment when it goes black and you're faced with your reflection.

Much of the album is built around displacement. The jangly slacker folk of ‘Angel Fossil’ hurtles the listener into a reflective country walk, only to be followed by the gasping indietronica riffery of ‘Team Deathmatch’. The band's keen ear for production is one of their strongest tools; their subtle layering of sounds causes ‘Team Deathmatch’ to sound like a quiet breakdown in the middle of an alt metal gig. Often, they’ll alternate in the midst of a track, such as the pristine acoustic guitar interlude between the walls of hyper-emo that make up ‘Kwaidan’. Yet these moments are never gimmicks; the contrasts instead reaffirm each emotion rather than fully displacing them. In doing so, they capture the near schizophrenic rush of sensations that lie at the core of the internet age. When music and feelings overwhelm us as much as news and images, sticking to a singular genre or sound feels like a lie. Rather, through this sound collage-like approach, all the noise is captured. But through their songwriting, that noise is given momentum and clarity.

And noise really is a focus here, because for all their genre-shifting experimentation, Paradise are always capable of reminding the listener that they can be one of the best screamo bands around. The excellent ‘Reach Heaven By Violence’ is pure feedback, catharsis, its rippling machine gun drums combining with rippling bass lines and charged guitars to launch lead singer Autumn’s screams like cannonballs. The clanging post-hardcore rhythms slow to let the lyrics echo out with raw sincerity; if heaven can be reached through violence alone, then Some Images Of Paradise might be making it to the gates.

Yet to view that ferocity as sheer anger would displace Some Images Of Paradise’s intent. Billed as ‘a love letter to someone specific, to ourselves, and the world at large,’ i expect the same of u isn’t an album of anger but rather passion. A raw attempt at grasping the intense emotions that end up buried underneath the nausea of isolation. The rush of jangling guitars on ‘untitled (dove)’ combines with the screams to locate a desperation that doesn’t seek catharsis but rather understanding. The band's music constantly aims to reaffirm a sense of self. To seek a lost core buried under the screeching obliteration of modern malaise. It isn’t forgiveness or retribution that the band seek so much as it is themselves. i expect the same of u is an album of exposure. It’s when the band slow down and allows the beauty to pierce through the murk of distortion that their intent becomes most clear. On the gorgeous ‘wool gathering’ Autumn's vocals lie under a cutting bed of soft, slowcore guitar chimes, the lyrics are heard to discern brief images of ‘falling to my knees’ and ‘something bigger than me’ mix in with one word repeated over and over ‘I feel’.

i expect the same of u is the sound of a young band chasing the feeling through every method possible. Whether that be blaring screamo, tender-hearted folk or electronic experimentation, every decision is keenly designed around one goal: exposing that feeling. In that sense, it’s a truly modern piece of emotional hardcore. One which uses every angle to express a sensation of radical honesty and hope. Just because emotion and honesty feel harder than ever to occur in the post-irony malaise of the internet era doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. It means new strategies must be attempted to achieve it. In undertaking that weighty task, Some Images Of Paradise have made one of the best debuts of the year. A deeply emotional and experimental piece of art rock that’s eternally grounded in its emotional honesty. This is a record with a deeply human heart. One that beats rapidly and fiercely.