October Language

Rolling Stone (p.59) - "[I]t now sounds just like yesterday: rusted drones and tidal distortion heavy with loss and ghosts." The Wire (p.63) - "[O]ceanic, resonant, and throwing off a brightly-lit corona of densely-dancing fragments..."

Very much in the vein of Fennesz and others carrying the torch of guitar experimentation from Kevin Shields, Belong's debut record isn't a series of recordings made to be played piece by piece at random intervals. October Language is very much an album designed to be listened to from start to finish; slowly evolving and unraveling one sheet of distorted guitar textures over another until there's simply no room left to cram in much more. But what sets Belong apart from the rest of their classmates in the school of Shields is their attention to detail. Distinct but melodic passages swell up from out of nowhere and then gradually fade into the static and whirls of feedback and sound; small fragments that appear early on in the lineup make returns later on (with close and active listening). And while fans can pine away and wait for that next My Bloody Valentine release (if there ever is one), there are thankfully instances like October Language that make the prolonged wait immensely more enjoyable. ~ Rob Theakston