Reviews

Fear of Men
Fall Forever

(Kanine)

7/10

Defined by its emotional resonance, ‘Fall Forever’ pertains to a certain kind of blissful melancholy – the type that perfectly illustrates the ebb and flow of being in love. And much like Fear of Men’s debut album, the prevailing quality here is in the clarity of Jessica Weiss’s voice. Lyrics remain abstract and personal, but there’s a noticeable tendency for Weiss to open up more than on 2014’s more cryptic ‘Loom’, and it’s a development that results in something far more intimate than anything the band have done previously.

Thematically, it explores emotional extremes of closeness and distance, love and violence, held together nicely by icy electronics and dark, frenetic post-punk. On paper, Fear Of Men could be another indistinguishable addition to the dream-pop contingent, but their genre defiance makes them far more unique than that. ‘Until You’’s comparative loudness – with its discordant synthesisers and propulsive drum beats – is a quality that they should revisit more, because ‘Fall Forever’ is lacking an urgency that was more evident before. Overall, the pace is frustratingly soporific at times, but ‘Fall Forever’ remains a truly immersive record.