Description
This March, Leeds based indie quartet Deadwall release their second studio album, The Zero Cliff, via Hatch Records. Following on from their impressive debut released in 2014, the band have spent the intermittent period rediscovering their potential as a group. Its the best band Deadwall has been, I think explains frontman Thomas Gourley. Whereas Bukimi no Tani was a mix of old and new ideas, The Zero Cliff was built from the ground upwards as one solid body of work. Its also the first recording with a really settled line-up.
The ten track collection is inspired by four books specifically; God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein, The Cloudspotters Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. The title itself is a chapter taken from the latter, one that focusses on the human notion of zero, and its from this assessment that Gourleys lyrics occasionally refer back to, with zero itself changing meaning and representation.
The single overall theme of the record is change, what it means, how we deal with it, view it, impose it, ignore it, fear it, etc. We are all habit addicts. The Zero Cliff to my mind is the infinitesimal, and infinite, gap between one thing and another. It is paradoxically infinite and non-existent, and when we change we dont notice but yet once we change it is inevitably permanent, the gap between life and death you might say.
The subject matter doesnt stop there. Within this overarching idea the record discusses a number of sibling sub-themes; religion, climate change, neo-liberalist economics, the oil & gas industry, death and rebirth and more. The music itself is just as broad, in equal parts shoegaze, alt-pop, college rock and chamber pop.
Tracks such as opener Hall Of Mists and Alto Flocc showcase the bands expert refrain, where soaring vocals are allowed to glide over shimmering guitar and delicate keys. Contrastingly, new single Heartlands, (released February 3rd) sees the band at their most anthemic, with a driving, motoric beat and an earworm vocal melody that stays with you long after first listen.
The Zero Cliff, though, is not a beast made to be dissected but enjoyed as a single epic journey where each song merges seamlessly with the next and a story allowed to develop. Not dissimilar to the likes of gig mates The Wedding Present, C Duncan and British Sea Power, Deadwall are driven by the stories they tell, backed with original and thought-provoking musical arrangements and masterful songwriting.
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