Dublin 5-piece Melts will release their debut album Maelstrom on 17 June via Mother Sky. The album is produced by Daniel Fox of Gilla Band, who is building one heck of a portfolio of producing Irish bands (including Sprints, Silverbacks, Bullet Girl and Turnstiles). Melts have been through a number of line-up changes as they have evolved but are now firmly settled with Gaz Earle (drums), Robbie Brady (organ/synth), Colm Giles (bass), Eoin Kenny (vocals) and Hugh O’Reilly (guitar).
“Repetition is definitely the key to Melts,” says drummer Gaz Earle. “It’s about just keeping it simple and driving and fucking stomping.” I could not have put it better myself. The album opens with title track ‘Maelstrom‘ and immediately its electronic beats followed by drums and an enormous wall of sound pour over the listener. One definition of maelstrom is “a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil“. Those pulsating electronic beats dominate and set the scene for the album.
‘Signal’ launches straight into a thunderous pulse, layering in the driving beats and building a cantering rhythm. It is captivating in its immediacy. Reverberating throughout ‘Signal’ is the ferocious drums and guitar riffs, but with the added synths the overall soundscape is larger than life. ‘Outlier‘ however has a calmer introduction, a deep slow ominous beat which quickly shifts into an electronic sequence, layered over with guitar riffs and Kenny’s echoing vocals. Thrilling electronica.
One of the standout tracks on Maelstrom is ‘Spectral‘. This track is dedicated to the loss of a friend to suicide. The atmosphere is very different to the rest of the album, unsurprising considering the emotional subject matter, which is conveyed in Kenny’s rich and heartfelt vocal delivery.
‘Waltzer‘ opens with a consistent electronic beat and Kenny expands on the inspiration behind the track:
“The influence for the lyrics came from Rob’s organ line on the track, it has the same mechanical rhythm of a fairground waltzer. The song is set in a fairground with people and machines moving, a couple dancing, giving ground and winning ground and a tight rope walker diving and returning to the rope. All throwing themselves into something unknown but knowing they’ll return to the same place, like a waltzer spinning.”
The majority of songs on Maelstrom are longer than average but that’s as it should be. These are expansive songs with immersive pulsing grooves, and time is needed for them to sink into their soundscapes, to allow them to seep into the listener. Earle further explains:
“We wanted to keep the rhythms just really straight and hypnotic. The aim of the game was to try and get people into a trance when they are watching the gig. With bringing Robbie on board, as he’s doing loads of stuff with sequencers and deadly synth bits, there grew a psychedelic hypnotic vibe to Melts.”
Melts obviously have a love for titles with one word at the moment! The album ends on stand out track ‘Tides‘. Talk about finishing on a high. This is a blast of techno-infused dance beats, of guitar riffs, of clattering drums, and throbbing synths. The volume builds until about halfway through the soundscape takes a breath with the techno-beat standing alone until all the instrumentation piles in again. Kenny’s vocals compliment the cacophony of noise until the song nears its end, begins to fade out until the final tweak at the very end, as if the button is flicked to off.
Lyrically the album moves between an interpretation of the state of world, to the more introspective and personal. Vocalist Kenny states: “the theme of the record is kind of based on coming to grips with the world around us.” Live Maelstorm will be a spectacle to behold. And fortunately there are plenty of opportunities to see Melts live in the next few months. Please see below for full details.
For more information on Melts please check out their website and facebook.
Melts Tour Dates:
Friday 29th July – Co. Waterford, All Together Now
Wednesday 12th October – Dublin, Whelan’s
Thursday 13th October – Belfast, The Deer’s Head
Friday 14th October – Limerick, Kasbah @ Dolan’s
Saturday 15th October – Galway, The Loft
Tuesday 18th October – Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
Wednesday 19th October – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
Thursday 20th October – Southampton, Heartbreakers
Friday 21st October – Brighton, Green Door Store
Monday 24th October – Glasgow, Hug & Pint
Tuesday 25th October – Newcastle, Head of Steam
Wednesday 26th October – Liverpool, Jimmy’s
Thursday 27th October – London, The Lexington
Friday 28th October – Manchester, The Castle
Saturday 19th November – Listowel, Mike The Pies
