Album Premiere: Talons – ‘New Topographics’

Listen to the Brits’ astounding new LP…

Several moons ago – as many as to stretch back to the summer of 2009 – I put on the odd gig or two for Clash at London’s Notting Hill Arts Club. On Saturday, June 27th, a band showed up at such a show and pretty much blew my mind. They were a sextet from Hereford, at the time with barely any recorded material to their name but a growing fanbase and a string of splendid played-with-them credits: Pulled Apart By Horses, 65daysofstatic, Future Of The Left, more…

What do you call post-rock that goes above and beyond expectations? Most-rock? Possibly. That day, I just called what I was hearing Talons, as that was the band in question. I bought a T-shirt. A debut album followed in 2010, ‘Hollow Realm’, through Oxford’s Big Scary Monsters label. And now, after what feels like a lot longer than four years, comes a pretty damn fantastic sequel: ‘New Topographics’.

Clash already premiered one track from this absorbing instrumental set – ‘The Wild Places’ was published in May – and now we’re really pleased to be able to stream ‘New Topographics’ in its entirety. The album comes out, again through Big Scary Monsters, on August 4th, on 180g heavyweight coloured vinyl (100 pressings only!), CD and download, and there are some neat limited-edition packages available from the label. Have a gander

And have a listen below while you browse. From the gorgeous strings of ‘Reverie’ to the shattering percussion of ‘Rituals’ and the luscious drones of ‘Stay Cold’, this is more most-rock than generic post-anything. For fans of Slint, Explosions In The Sky, bands that go further.

Find Talons (pictured, just there ^online here. See them live as follows:

September

12th – Birthdays, London

13th – The Flapper, Birmingham

17th – Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds

18th – Shipping Forecast, Liverpool

19th – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff

20th – Southsea Festival, Portsmouth

Related: read an interview with Talons from the time of that Notting Hill show

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