by Chris Hatch

If last year’s Blunt Instruments did anything at all for you, then Mush’s latest single is a must listen. Seven Trumpets is a lithe, supple track that sees the Leeds-based band fragment their post-punk sound and allow it to splinter off in a myriad of exciting directions.

Guitars stretch out and wind themselves around chugging bass and drums on an intro that has hints of Blur’s Coffee & TV and Pavement’s Gold Soundz – it’s slightly subtler than some of their previous stuff though; less angular, more rounded and sinewy. But there’s still a fizzing undercurrent, and as the track progresses things become more direct and intense – a liquid, staccato chorus, a jazzy, off-tempo post-chorus – things don’t really stand still for a second.

Lead singer, Dan Hyndman, has his sights set on the burgeoning climate crisis and increased corporate, over-consumption, but his snarky, glottal delivery almost sounds a little bit throwaway, as though he feels those in power aren’t taking things seriously. When he delivers lines like ‘They keep on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ you can almost feel his eyes roll and the smirk creep across his face. His mask slips eventually though, and there’s a jolting crack to his voice as he sings ‘We’re gonna die/Dead in the water’ – a moment where he lets frustration overcome his sense of futility. There’s a hint of Idles, and a dash of last year’s Flat Worms album, Antarctica.

Seven Trumpets manages to be passionate without feeling preachy, interesting without feeling indulgent, and conjures up a sense of vitality that makes upcoming album, Lines Redacted, one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the moment.

Lines Redacted is out through Memphis Industries on 12th February.

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