Powers

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Arriving seven years after their inspired a capella album Rant and nearly a decade after The Chaos, the Futureheads' turbulent sixth album, Powers, reflects the changes in the band's lives -- and the world to which they returned -- perfectly. During the group's hiatus, vocalist/guitarist Barry Hyde dealt with his mental health issues (which he also addressed on his 2016 solo album, Malody); meanwhile, the political climate of the U.K. only grew more unstable and polarized. As one of the brainier bands of the "angular" movement that proliferated in the early 2000s, the Futureheads have always shown a flair for weaving the personal and political together in their music, particularly on 2006's News and Tributes. However, they've never been so direct about it as they are on Powers. There's a nearly physical heft to the way the band grapples with their confessions and confrontations, and their trademark lunging guitars and rhythms embody turmoil, whether it's mental or social. On the thundering opener, "Jekyll," Hyde asks the world -- and himself -- "Can you predict the changes in your mood?" while an almost comically evil riff sends the song teetering on the vanishingly fine line between order and chaos, as well as paranoia and genuine fear. The band is even more furious as they rail against Brexit on "Across the Border," where their shouted catharsis ("You have the right to call yourself whatever you like/What would it take to allow everybody that privilege?") evokes Future of the Left. Later, they channel that intensity into reverence on "0704," a radiant tribute to the seven-hour-and-four-minute labor that Hyde's wife endured to give birth to their daughter. This intimacy makes Powers special among the Futureheads' albums, especially when Hyde takes listeners along on the ups and downs of his mental health journey. Gleaming guitars and a ceaseless current of synths push "Electric Shock"'s unflinching recollections forward; "Headcase" is equally frantic and frank, capturing not just the spiral into mania but the way back from it. The band rounds out the album with more familiar-sounding songs like "Stranger in a New Town" and "Good Night Out," but it's Powers' riskier, more revealing moments that prove the Futureheads have more to say than ever before. ~ Heather Phares