Surfing the Void

It has been worth while waiting for Klaxons’ sophomore effort

The London four-piece Klaxons released its debut album Myths Of The Near Future in 2007 and the audience which had already been warmed up by a series of singles gained one of its favorite indie collectives in the face of these incredibly talented guys. The album later won the international Mercury Prize, and Klaxons fans appeared in every corner of the world. Inspired by the success band members started working on the sophomore effort already in 2008 planning to release it not later than mid last year. Yet label differences did not let it happen. The initial album version which Klaxons recorded in France with James Ford was too experimental according to label producers. The musicians had to write other songs and the new producer was Ross Robinson; they had to put something out and something in. This all has resulted in a significant delay of the Klaxons’ second album release, but it has been worth while waiting for it – the record Surfing The Void exceeds all expectations.

Disappointment with Surfing The Void is simply out of the question

As it always happens Klaxons’ second album serves as a litmus paper to reveal the band’s real abilities, and disappointment is simply out of the question here. There are simply no failure compositions on Surfing The Void – each of these 10 songs is many-faceted, contradictory and harmonious as the Londoners’ all creative work on the whole. The album opens with the first single Echoes making it clear at once how far ahead the musicians have gone in three years – every instruments sounds like the others’ part, the level of matched playing most bands reach only in many years. Besides Klaxons’ trademark style joining pop music with electronica and rock can be recognized on each track pleasing and slightly shocking at the same time. The title composition is one of the brightest examples in this respect: unimaginable piano chords, vocals passing from falsetto to growling, crazy guitar riffs – everything is turned upside down here, extremely tense and heated. The melody is broken with the chorus almost devoid of it but you feel like listening to the song again and again. The composition Venusia is another story due to its expressive chorus of high notes and a sullen atmosphere both in the lyrics and the bass and guitar lines. A complicated, almost hysterical number Extra Astronomical conquers with vigorous drums and electronic space effects, whereas the most memorable chorus refines a fantastic song Flashover. A very wise philosophic text, original riff and genius simple tune present the future hit Future Memories, and the album closer is Cypherspeed built on a splendid bass line and very expressive vocals.

An amazingly strong and mature second album

Music created by Jamie Reynolds, Simon Taylor-Davis, James Righton and Steffan Halperin is undoubtedly attractive, emotional and expressive for all the energy of these eccentric and gifted people is concentrated in it. Yet Klaxons’ main strong point is its ability to mix components taken from different genres and the mixture is really highly explosive. Although Surfing The Void is the second album while listening to it one gets an impression that everything is only beginning for Klaxons, it desperately wants to surprise, disturb the listener’s peace of mind, make one start and wake up. Even without lyrics these songs have an atmosphere of something fantastic, unearthly, but mattering, serious and volume. As for the texts they build the concept – if the listener went on a world journey on the first record, it is the sci-fi world one dives on Surfing The Void. Cosmos, future, time and space – these are no new themes, but only Klaxons has managed to make an amazingly strong and mature second album on their basis.