Just the opening few bars of their new single lets the listener know that Dead Favours are back, and yet again they mean business. Charlie sets up an intricate backbeat, Kyle and Jared have their guitars in sync, and at the heart of it all is a filthy bassline with Alex providing melodies and countermelodies, so one is brought into the music long before Jared even starts singing! He doesn’t play on the first verse, so when he comes back in on the chorus, where the guitars are less staccato and provide sustain, it has more impact, while for much of the second verse it is Jared singing over Alex and Charlie with no guitars at all.

After the second chorus we are taken on a bridge which is very different to what has gone before, building to a climax, dropping away and then we are into the chorus again with some gorgeous harmonies, Kyle developing a guitar solo, and then it all just falls away again to a twee ending. These guys have an incredible knack of providing songs which are catchy, and instantly recognisable as Dead Favours, moving in multiple directions in just four minutes so that one is never really sure what is going to happen next. Jared easily slips in and out of falsetto in an epic number which fits in so very well with the Side A of Riffing and Yelling, roll on the rest of Side B!

Rating: 9/10

Links:
https://deadfavours.com/