Some may yearn for more of Celebration Rock’s high voltage, but by changing gears they’ve added more depth and variation to those shout-along choruses we love so much.That said, it would seem that in 2017, Brian King and David Prowse have got their sights firmly set on writing an anthem for the millennial generation, as Near to the Wild Heart of Life is awash with songs of wide-eyed exuberance, flavoured with big production values that occasionally hint at the Celtic rock flavours of early U2 and even Mumford and Sons’ recent rocky reinvention. But this newfound awareness doesn’t threaten that familiar feeling of catharsis the band have become known for, and no song delivers that more effectively than North East South West.Īs its cover and length (the usual eight songs) suggest, Near To The Wild Heart Of Life is unquestionably a Japandroids album. Whereas their previous material consistently expressed a longing for the past, they now choose to live in the present. The transformation of lyrics is just as significant. And while those songs are still kicking around here – No Known Drink Or Drug and the title track are both cut from the Celebration Rock cloth – recording eight loud, rampant rock songs is no longer the goal.Īnd so they’ve come back with songs that wouldn’t have previously fit into their canon, like the mid-tempo, acoustic stride of True Love And A Free Life Of Free Will, a wistfully distorted ballad called I’m Sorry (For Not Finding You Sooner) and the potentially divisive seven-minute Arc Of Bar, which messes with both synths and pretty much any assumption you’ve made about them. Gone is the idea that a Japandroids song needs to be cranked up to 11. That’s never a popular choice with fans, especially when it results in nearly a five-year wait, but it enabled them to recharge and begin a new chapter with their music. On their third album, Near To The Wild Heart Of Life, Japandroids took the time they required. But despite their success, Brian King and Dave Prowse craved more from their music. With their first two albums, 2009’s Post-Nothing and its follow-up, 2012’s Celebration Rock, Vancouver’s Japandroids initiated a new wave of anthemic indie rock that revelled in booze, love, mortality and nostalgia.
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