Loveproof’s new album Neon Blood Volume 2 is a necessary reflection of the damaging conventions of modern life.
By Katie Stewart
Using penetrable bass sounds and powerful yet spectral vocals, the Toronto, Canada-based band have created a listening experience well worth your time.
The synth and dub sound is inventive, creative and auteuristic in its precision; cohesive and complementary with Brendan McGarvey’s pulsing basslines. The layered electronic elements are redolent of Vince Clark’s (of Yazoo and Depeche Mode) early pioneering of synth in the early-mid eighties.
That said, there is a modern edge ingrained throughout all the tracks, intrinsic to Loveproof’s musical identity. This is achieved through Ciaran Megahey’s haunting vocals, which have a confrontational ability to penetrate through the dark and powerful electronic instrumental, like nothing else you’ve heard before.
Whilst the album’s cryptic lyrics seem to be deliberately equivocal, the edgy and sinister sound-engineering, combined with gut-wrenching, psychedelic vocals deliver meaning with an overt sense of urgency. This Hunger is particularly challenging in this way, delivering lyrics about the now-familiar experience of insatiable desire, and the fragility and illusion of life today.
“Through the windows of time. Nothing is quite what you find inside. Couldn’t save us for long. Every step we take, something breaks.”
There is an all-too-real discussion about the falsity and corruption of reality in the current climate, of which the unpredictably sung melodies help to deliver home. The textured and bass-heavy soundscape complements the intense nature of this message, pushing forward a pessimistic warning.
The Greenest Eyes is a prime example of the band’s lyrical prowess – a poetic and fantastical-feeling story unravels amongst a refreshingly bright and upbeat background. Loveproof’s gothic sound is still pressingly present, but the song floats with a lightness which mesmerising, chewy, and welcome.
The final track (10, Untouchable) culminates with a reduced dub section, devoid of the main melody, the rhythmic undercurrent is given space to resonate. With impactful snares and a chasmic kick-drum, a moment of loud quiet is created. This strangely weighty and commanding ending allows listeners to reflect on the album, its messages, and its echoingly percussive sound.
You can keep up to date with all things Loveproof via Bandcamp, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
Neon Blood Volume 2 was recorded at Mammoth Hall studio in Toronto and is out now on all major streaming platforms. You can listen to it below.
