Jeniferever - Silesia (Album)

I’ve always had a massive soft spot for Jeniferever. Right from the misleading Smashing Pumpkins reference of their name, to the incredible grandeur of their debut record Choose a Bright Morning (and, to a slightly lesser extent, its follow-up Spring Tides), they’ve always been right up my street. I’m sure, then, you can imagine my delight to be tasked with the duty of reporting that Silesia is an absolute fucking triumph, and the main reason for its success is that, crucially, there is absolutely no attempt to replicate the Sigur Rós-esque beauty of their snails-pace elegies of yore. Yes, Silesia is still stunningly pretty in places, but it is also imbued with a brand new sense of urgency, playfulness even, which is gratifying in a whole different way. Take Deception Pass for example; it’s a thumping, booming slice of unsettling weirdness with a rhythm that your ear can never seem to quite catch up with, casually placed slap-bang in the middle of the record. This is telling of a band who are refreshingly willing to take risks when they could have quite easily knocked out BBC ident soundtracks ‘til the IKEA trucks came home. You need Jeniferever in your life.

5/5