2024 has already been an outstanding year for album releases, however, Walt Disco certainly do not need to be fazed by what has come before as their second album finally hit the shelves. The Warping twists and turns, contorts, confounds convention and delights in equal parts as the serpentine songs worm their way into the very fibre of your being, and while not totally vitiating all comers, the album lays waste to much of the competition.
Where Unlearning announced their arrival as the ones to watch, The Warping takes that complex blueprint and not so much runs with it as rips it to shreds and starts again, taking the sum of their parts, adding layers of instrumentation, multiplying their sophisticated textures by distorting, altering and reshaping their already distinct signature soundscapes and somehow making their music even more passionately intense, akin to some sort religious awakening.
This collection of songs feels more than just an album, it could almost be a ready made musical, a journey of sound that feels in many ways like an earnestly intimate story, often feeling so personal that it feels like the listener is making a voyeuristic intrusion into a very personal journey.
Sewing the Seeds for the rest of the album, the sweeping majestic soundscape introduction feels cinematic in its scope, the orchestral sound building into Gnomes following Jocelyn’s passionate opening couplet of “Am I OK, about to break..”, the mood switches between quiet personal pleas, to bombastic choruses, setting the scene for a bit of a mindfuck of an album.
What follows is in many ways an other-wordly experience in which the band cement the sound of Walt Disco into musical history with an album that will surely have people talking about them in years to come. Sure there are reference points I could mention, Sparks, Bowie, Simple Minds and Japan to name a handful, bands and artists that have pushed the boundaries in the past, however what makes this album distinctly Walt Disco is the way they take all their elements and influences and pull them together into a cohesive sound that has their name written all over it. That includes the use of what are probably unconventional instruments taking things beyond the realms of what was already a distinct sound of a band who at their core are essentially an alternative indie/electro pop band who don’t want to blend in with the pap, but stretch the boundaries, not only exploring and expanding their sound, but in deeply personal lyrical themes, laying themselves bare for the world to hear.
All that means is that he superlatives I could use to describe the album could flow off the tongue in a long list dramatic, epic and anthemic, a sound seamlessly moving between orchestral, operatic, cinematic and bombastic, while always displaying a mercurial majesty at its core. Jocelyn has one of the most unique and instantly recognisable voices in modern music, a voice that will surely stand the test of time and be talked about in the same breath as other well loved Scottish vocalists. The way the bands sound has developed between albums provides a perfect foil for this remarkable vocal talent and demonstrates the versatility in Jocelyn’s voice gracefully gliding between tearjerking torch songs and synth pop anthems.
Every song has something new to explore, whether that be musically, take what sounds to me like a 21st century take on a mediaeval madrigal in The Captain, the captivating mysterious charm of Weeping Willow and it’s affecting vocal and lyrics, or the uplifting electro pop beats of Come Undone. The inner turmoil impact of the lyrics of You Make Me Feel So Dumb and its gloriously subtle riffing, the uplifting melody of the albums title track, or the soulful strings laden widescreen sound of Black Chocolate. I have lost count of how many times I’ve listened to this album in the last couple of weeks, but every time I listen, I pick up something new, a lyrical nuance that tugs the heartstrings, a sublime musical couplet or instrument (is than an oboe I ask myself…flutes…. chamber organ…), something that hits you in the feels, or something that makes you smile uncontrollably.
The emotional impact of a song like Pearl or Jocelyn cannot be understated, the latter especially demonstrating a fragility that belies a great strength within, a strength that can only be found when you search your soul and find your true self.
The emotional impact doesn’t let up when it comes to the closing couplet of I Will Travel, where Jocelyn’s vocal feels even more fragile than ever at the songs opening, before it builds with a triumphant defiance, and the album reaches its climax, with Jocelyn’s dramatically poignant and touching vocal on Before the Walls suitably swathed in elegantly stirring sweeping strings, angelic backing vocals and crashing drums before bringing the album to a near tearful close with a plea straight from the heart “All that I require, is that you read to me, my desire… please… just… one… last time”
An emotional rollercoaster of an album which you cannot help but jump straight back in. One listen isnt enough, two, three… more. Jocelyn’s voice seduces your eardrums and soothes the soul, while the music hypnotises and draws you deeper. Already a classic. Roll on November in SWG3.
Walt Disco – Glasgow Gig Tickets – SWG3 Walt Disco