Coilguns speak again.
In 2024, Jonathan Nido (guitar/vocals), Louis Jucker (vocals), Luc Hess (drums) and Kevin Galland (bass/keyboards) announce the release ofOdd Love, their new album, via Humus records.
The album kicks off with the rousing We Missed the Parade, an infectious energy linked to vindictive aggression, linking Post-Hardcore sounds with the musicians’ obvious melancholy. A few soaring melodies haunt the riffs before Placeholders asserts itself with a heavier but also more weighing sound, leaning towards heady Noise influences that are also found in the vocal parts, before moving on to Generic Skincare where the harmonics become airy again. It’s easy to sense that the track could, and does, burst into flames at any moment, but the atmosphere calms down with the arrival of Black Chyme, which takes a hypnotic, haunting approach, seeping easily into the mind before turning darker. Bandwagoning is immediately more chaotic, exploding very regularly and placing us at the center of an almost uncontrollable frenzy, before allowing Caravel to ease tensions with intoxicating atmospheric tones that eventually surrender to the lurking tumult. The haunting sounds return with Venetian Blinds, where the vocals lend a tortured tinge to the soothing melancholy, then it’s on the long Featherweight that the band slowly weaves its dissonant web before setting it ablaze to become abrasive. There’s a hint of Screamo reinforcing the track’s intensity, but it abruptly cuts off to make way for The Wind To Wash The Pain, a more soothing, minimalist composition that features the vocalist in a calm atmosphere, but gradually builds in strength before fading out. Bunker Vaults, the last song, offers a minute’s gentle intro, but the drums are already beginning to give us a glimpse of the raw energy that drives it, and which doesn’t fail to become increasingly abrasive throughout its seven minutes, eventually becoming inert.
With Odd Love, Coilguns talks about his relationship with the music industry. It’s sometimes chaotic, sometimes calmer and more distant, but always passionate, just like his multi-influenced compositions.
85/100