It's hard to believe that it's already been five years since Lebanon Hanover released their album Sci-Fi Sky, which came out during the dark days of lockdown. At the time, we were surprised to see the Anglo-Swiss duo's blasé attitude, inherited from coldwave, embodied in a more electronic and saturated instrumental style (review). The world hasn't gotten any better since then, and Lebanon Hanover is well aware of this: released this summer, their seventh album Asylum Lullabies deals, in their own words, with mental health issues in a world where everything is falling apart at once!
And indeed, on Asylum Lullabies, Lebanon Hanover leaves the shores of melancholy behind and sinks into pure despair, where the angry gestures we make in an attempt to rise to the surface only drag us down further. In terms of sound, the album continues the evolution begun with Sci-Fi Sky, making abundant use of electronics and, above all, resorting even more to saturation, but this time with much heavier and more grating tracks, menacing reverb, painful vocals, and guitar that sometimes cuts us to the bone. Asylum Lullabies is Lebanon Hanover's most violent album to date, and this new style suits them well, with the bitterness that has always characterised the band allowing them to find a unique voice.
The most emblematic track of this shift is, of course, the introduction Pagan Ways, an obsessive fantasy of escape from the world, crushed by the relentless heaviness of the guitar and the speed of its assaults. We like Sleep even more, where Larissa's voice, heavy with menace like the lingering melody, advises us to fall asleep to forget that nothing is going right, or almost nothing. The album reaches its peak with the third track, Torture Rack, on which Larissa's raw vocals and a dissonant metallic sample seem ready to die of loneliness under the crushing weight of the guitar and bass. These first three tracks are flawless, leaving us with a slight desire to bleed ourselves dry, since there seems to be nothing else to look forward to in this world.
That said, Lebanon Hanover's transformation on this record is not complete: there are also more traditional tracks for the band, such as Frosty Life, which follows in a long line of neurasthenic songs sung by William Maybelline, the hazy electronica of Waiting List and, above all, My Love, which is sure to get you dancing in the dark. This fits in quite well with the beginning of the album, as the three tracks seem to be searching for something to hold on to, but there is something strange about seeing the album become less heavy in the middle. I'm Doing This For You then returns to the violence of Pagan Ways in a slightly less rough form. And then, above all, the album surprises us once again with Parrots: serious and solemn, this last track has a ritualistic atmosphere reminiscent of Come Kali Come on the previous album; the lyrics of attachment do not erase the gloomy atmosphere, nor does the binary rhythm that sets in, drawing us into an unhealthy dance, thirsty for someone to cling to... Not only are the wagons reconnected with the beginning of the album, but it's a delight.
The only slight regret about this excellent Asylum Lullabies is a slight lack of cohesion in the middle of the album. Otherwise, the record is more accomplished than Sci-Fi Sky, particularly because it offers us the hits that we felt were missing from its predecessor. Torture Rack and Parrots are particularly successful. Lebanon Hanover has managed to change style while retaining the same power. We savour this album and can't wait to hear what comes next!
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