Imperium

Their debut showed the promise of growth, and their “no synth” policy may have hemmed them in unnecessarily.

There’s a strong pop structure and crisp rhythm to each song that stops the album from sounding like a floundering attempt at recreating Seventeen Seconds.

Imperium offers plenty of haunting moments that make it very much a Captured Tracks album, as well as one that grows in power with repeated listening.

Purposefully lo-fi, it would be easy to dismiss as self-indulgent nostalgia, yet its quirky charms and understated directness more often than not outweigh its faults.

Blouse transpose themselves into a new genre, but end up delivering a similar result. It all sounds markedly different, but the tones and feelings and soundscapes summoned feel familiar.

While the move from synths to guitars allowed Blouse to explore another side of their sound, it didn’t enable them to make a leap forward creatively.  Imperium is more homage than innovation, and while it further preserves the integrity of early indie rock, it only hints that Blouse is more than a revival act.

Starting fresh on a new route rather than continuing down the old one, they’ve got a long way to travel if they want to arrive at a well-rounded psych pop record.