Luminous

The Horrors - Luminous
Critic Score
Based on 33 reviews
2014 Ratings: #262 / 1042
User Score
Based on 214 ratings
2014 Rank: #303
Liked by 7 people
May 5, 2014 / Release Date
LP / Format
XL / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
musicOMH

Luminous, all told, is a sure-fire summer soundtrack from a band who are far more cerebral than they’d have you believe.

100
Time Out London

‘Luminous’ is one of the biggest, tightest, most engrossing records we’ve heard from a British band in years.

100
DIY

In an environment where bands are championed for simply surviving, The Horrors go several steps further. Fragments of the group's past link together and the future illuminates in unison. 

90
Drowned in Sound

Eloquent and peaceful til its final note signals the end, there's little else to add other than to state the obvious; Luminous marks another fitting addition to The Horrors' increasingly untouchable catalogue.

90
Exclaim!

Luminous is a tremendously dense record, but one that manages to find ample breathing space for each of its studio takes.

85
Under the Radar

Horrors' talent for writing light-handed but heavy-impact slow burn anthems-you can see either of them going down fantastically at festivals this summer. Another triumph from a band whose evolution goes from strength to strength.

80
Q Magazine
It's genuinely exciting to think where The Horrors might go from here.
80
The Skinny

They consolidate the Psychedelic Furs-via-Hacienda stylings of 2011’s Skying for their fourth LP, which is gratifying enough to seduce fedora youths in a field without wholly sacrificing the experimental spirit.

80
AllMusic

While the changes the band makes to its music post-Primary Colours are more subtle, Luminous proves the Horrors still have a sense of adventure; they sound comfortable, but not too comfortable to try new things.

80
NME

‘Luminous’ arrives after 15 delay-stricken months in the studio, a gestation period on a par with that of a baby giraffe, and admittedly, it sounds like something that took an age to make

75
Pretty Much Amazing

The Horrors do have a masterpiece inside them, and with each release it’s bubbling closer to the surface. Luminous is not it.

75
Consequence of Sound

Across the board, Luminous represents a solid step forward for The Horrors. With this newly expanded sound and epic scope, they’ve moved beyond their early garage rock and goth influences and are now in conversation with Brit rockers like Muse or (gasp) even Radiohead.

67
Pitchfork

It's at turns utterly breathtaking and vaguely familiar, but in the end it just sorta sounds like Skying.

JayCrackers
53

This is sadly, the worst The Horrors record, they continue with the Neo-Psychedelia sound they built on Skying and made it more nocturnal and darker in tone and the result ends up being quite a dull experience, a lot of songs drag too long, and the soundscape doesn't captivate me as much as it did on Skying. There are some good tracks on here, but as an overall experience it is decent at best, with their worst lyrics and uninteresting production

Track Review

Chasing Shadows 5/10
First Day of ... read more

dustymoth
66

Sort of boring, I liked them when they were silly goths

tha138
69

Gothically groovy and psychedelically hazy, this is how mainstream rock music should sound: squarelly produced to conquer the world!

TheBricker
85

This one actually used to be my favourite album by The Horrors, however, with this recent listen, the quality has dropped slightly, mostly due to the style of the songs being a bit too repetitive there. But still, I enjoyed this album a lot, with most of the songs offering new and fresh neo psychedelia goodness. So more about the songs now.

Chasing Shadows is a really nice opener, I like the buildup there, although the song does get a bit weaker towards the end. First Day Of Spring is better, ... read more

dustymoth
66

Sort of boring, I liked them when they were silly goths

JayCrackers
53

This is sadly, the worst The Horrors record, they continue with the Neo-Psychedelia sound they built on Skying and made it more nocturnal and darker in tone and the result ends up being quite a dull experience, a lot of songs drag too long, and the soundscape doesn't captivate me as much as it did on Skying. There are some good tracks on here, but as an overall experience it is decent at best, with their worst lyrics and uninteresting production

Track Review

Chasing Shadows 5/10
First Day of ... read more

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Track List

1Chasing Shadows
6:49
84
2First Day of Spring
5:11
82
3So Now You Know
5:02
83
4In and Out of Sight
5:03
79
5Jealous Sun
4:10
84
6Falling Star
3:43
84
7I See You
7:32
88
8Change Your Mind
5:07
90
9Mine and Yours
3:31
77
10Sleepwalk
5:26
88
Total Length: 51 minutes
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Added on: February 24, 2014