Album of the Week: Gengahr — Sanctuary
It’s felt like a long two years since Gengahr released their second record Where Wildness Grows. Now back with a third album, Gengahr’s Sanctuary breaks the mould of their previous two efforts. Here’s what Connor Flashman-Wells has to say about it.
“I needed it to be a bit bigger than writing songs on behalf of other people. It needed to be something that I truly believe in to make it more meaningful” said frontman Felix Bushe in an interview with the Daily Star. Listening to Gengahr’s third album, Sanctuary, the experiences of the alt-pop foursome feel front and centre. several of the songs exposit emotional experiences, distances, and translate into something fresher and relevant than anything they have previously released.
The heavier tracks land particularly well as a result. Rather than playing like an archetypal indie album, Sanctuary takes on more complex production techniques, courtesy of Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman. The introductory cut and sophomore single ‘Everything & More’ is built around a thumping bass riff, which splits deep sonic crevices as synths provide just enough oxygen to give this landscape an atmosphere. It’s ethereal and hazy, creating distance onto which Bushe projects his vocals. This sense of distance underpins the album — in an interview with M Magazine, Bushe revealed that much of Sanctuary was written whilst grappling with the problems that arose from his long-distance relationship with an Australian girlfriend. It’s a great way to frame the album, setting the tone for some beautiful tracks. ‘Never A Low’ follows a similar structure, throwing brooding bass riffs over poetic rhyming couplets. Drums and synths are beautifully mixed, so it’s hard to fault these tunes.
Where these tracks fall down, though, is that — whilst more experimental than their previous efforts — the tracks deviate towards the music of contemporaries Foals and Two Door Cinema Club. It’s hard to hear the falsetto in songs like ‘Soaking In Formula’ without hearing Alt-J’s An Awesome Wave, although that’s not strictly a bad thing. Lead single ‘Atlas Please’ takes on many of these traits, but is saved by some great production (and phenomenal drumming by Danny Ward). There’s also a filler or two, like ‘Anime’, that feel unnecessary to an otherwise decent album.
There are some excellent funk-pop cuts here which firmly redeem the album from derivation. ‘Heavenly Maybe’ is a choppy funk cut, taking poly-rhythmic guitar lines and merging them with some Moog-y synths. Equally, interlude track ‘Fantasy’ feels like Major Tom is floating through space once more, tripping on acid, and without Ground Control to converse with. Introspection is made excessive at the one-minute mark, wherein modular piano lines and distorted-sustained guitar lines coalesce into a cacophony of sound. At this point, Gengahr switch gears: ‘You’re No Fun’ could easily come from one of their earlier records, but it would certainly be stronger than the vast majority of the tracks there. The choruses are heavy, bold, and, above all else, are interesting, contrasting gorgeous guitar melodies in the verses to create a great track.
By far, the strongest moment on the album is found in final single ‘Icarus’. Personally, I’ve always got high hopes for tracks named Icarus; Bas’ track from the stellar album Milky Way and Madeon’s 2012 single both share this title. Gengahr follow the trend firmly, floating reverberated synths over steady basslines. The back and forth, call and response guitar lines of the chorus are incredible, paralleling Bushe’s talks with his girlfriend as he sings ‘Oh, child, listen to your innocence, I can build you better than developers’. It is the most productively and lyrically finessed track on the Sanctuary.
Final track ‘Moonlight’ stands out as well, evoking images of Spanish summer nights through nylon guitars and simple guitar lines. Though less complex than the previous tracks on the album, it features less traditional chord sequences and percussion, all while rounding off the themes of longing that mark the first half of Sanctuary.
Gengahr’s third album isn’t perfect, but Sanctuary is a spacey escape from the norm. It paints a beautiful landscape through thoughtful synths, bass guitar lines, and sweet guitar flourishes. Of course, it has issues of derivation and filler, but the diamonds which are left when these are stripped away are nothing to shrug at.
Rating: 6.5/10
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