The thunderous sounds the Irish quintet have built as a foundation over the last few years are left behind on Making Circles of Our Own. This time around, while their indie-punk – a sonic blast that falls slap-bang in the middle of being bruising as it does life-affirming – still retains that spark of undue chaos, but this time around comes a vividness, as if searching for hope amongst the disorder of the world.
The heft is certainly still present. Waves of distortion crash, often heading straight for a powerhouse chorus shore, before barrelling into a call to arms – and these are plentiful. Vocalist Lyndsey Mcdougall’s lyricism remains deft in its painting of visual scenes (“Fresh Young Overlook”’s silent chant delivering the eternal-sounding “grief is pouring through this storm”) and packs as much punch as the music behind her.
Similarly, New Pagan’s most notable facet is their ability to dig through the intricate stories of struggle and empowerment in the world like archaeologists on the hunt for a prize discovery. “Karin Was Not A Rebel”, tells the story, or at least the ethos and ambition, of interior designer Karin Bergöö Larsson, who, like McDougall balanced a creative passion with the reality of motherhood, carving out a space for both to coexist.
The ambition is high too. “Bigger Homes” has their most arena-ready
chorus to date. The soaring harmonies pave way for a searing guitar solo
that sees the group aching to fill the bigger rooms they found
themselves playing with support slots with Skunk Anise, and Frank Turner
and the Sleeping Souls. Opposing this, closer “The State of My Love’s
Desires”, is the most restrained the band has sounded to date – strings
swooping in the sky above the wide-open marriage of Mcdougall and
guitarist Cahir O’Doherty’s vocals fall nothing short of majestic.
Clever tricks – having the crunching, and twisting of a guitar string
seeing off “Hear Me, You Were Always Good” and introducing “Comparable
Reflections” in an act of crushing industrial bridging – show the level
of thought and attention Making Circles comes packed with.
The admirability of New Pagans comes in their unharnessed want of –
and success in – building a lane of their own and doubling down. Where
the darker edge may have made way for a more hopeful, brighter dawn, the
drive still remains, and that hunger to exist in a space that will
allow them to continue their journey is as purposeful as ever. And while the choruses still aim high, the assuredness of their debut feels
missing. Jutting sounds that led to corners where expectations were
blown out of the water are now straight-ahead corridors where the
results are still noteworthy but hold little surprise. Still, New Pagans
are a band that seems hell-bent on changing shape and processing the
world as it turns, and on Making Circles of Our Own that remains as impactful as ever.
