The latest single from Ancient Free Gardeners is a decidedly dense affair. James Milsom’ oblique narrative is replete with suburban imagery, sung in a husky tone that feels withdrawn. He trickles out his guitar notes like droplets of water that glint on the song’ icy, translucent surface. Steve Morfesse’ keyboard lines are barely noticeable in the verse aside from a single bouncing note, while he swathes the chorus in heady, ethereal chords that construct a bed of clouds for the rest of the instruments to lie on.
The atmospheric nature of “Innards Out’s has its charm, though the unwelcome side effect of such melodic dependency is that it’s hard for the listener to latch onto anything. Its buoyancy lifts “Innards Out’s so high that it’s out of reach, and I mean this in both the metaphorical and literal sense here. There’ merit in building beautiful shoegaze indie in the mold of M83 and Slowdive, but those bands keep themselves grounded because they give their audience something to hold on to, whether it be a drum and bass groove or a wickedly infectious hook. Ancient Free Gardeners do neither. Simultaneously, the cerebral nature of Milsom’ lyrics fails to translate into something that listeners can understand. It becomes a series of pretty phrases, but ultimately the words of “Innards Out’s fail to coalesce to form a singular vision. The words seem as those they’re chosen because they rhyme, rather than because they continue the band’ train of thought.
Ancient Free Gardeners know how to spin a melodic yarn, but now they have to refine their skill to produce something that engages people and doesn’ drift away from them.
Dom Alessio
