After their last record Blood & Chemistry I feel like I've been waiting for a follow up from them for an age. I actually even wrote about them in my 2015 Album Wishlist, but they say that you can't rush greatness. So finally, in 2017 we have been blessed with my 16th favourite album of the year - Melancholia Hymns by Arcane Roots. It was more than worth the wait.
I must admit it was a little bit of a slow build for me on this one. I definitely liked it on first listen, however most of the non singles took me a minute to get into. Especially the more anthemic songs like "Indigo", being the type of song that I don't regularly listen to. Although, after a while those very same songs ended up growing into my favourites on the entire album.
The biggest stand-outs for me on this record at the moment are "Solemn", "Curtains", "Everything (All At Once)" and "Indigo". "Curtains" came out as the lead single last year and I played it to
death; I actually had to give it a breather before the album came out and
hearing it again after a while, in the context of the album, only made it shine
brighter for the gem of a song that it is. The transitions are wild, the sort
of levels that made me fall in love with their music in the first place.
Arcane Roots truly have their own sound and this record shows that even more clearly than the rest of their material. They've tapped into more sonic synth sounds and really honed in their take on anthemic songs, all the while staying true to their heavier math rock roots throughout. I really couldn't have asked for more on this, it almost makes me feel bad for rushing them because evidently good things come to those who wait.
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