You too may be in a state of divorce. Not from another person but from the real world. Nobody else is sitting on the toilet right now, reading away at a review of Heady Metal as though they were not just looking at prints of My Goodness, My Guinness posters. You did pause for the Guinness + Lobster one. Didn’t we all? Divorce, then. Their six-track EP, Heady Metal. It will pull you out of the depths and give you the fresh shakedown you need. Get your head up and into some fine new music. We cannot live life listening over and over to the three artists on our For You page. Keep an ear out for wise and cracked music from the depths of Nottingham. Choose Divorce.
Make the choice and lean into some confident offerings on this latest EP from the tender, striking desire to fix up the world around you. Sex & The Millenium Bridge is startling, a tremendous opener which cries out for honesty in places it can never come through. These tracks are never set to explode yet it feels as though the weight of the world, so easily disposed of and cut through by Divorce, is going to blow. Some explosion of sound or appearance of change, but nothing comes through their exceptional first track or the fragile self-congratulatory tone of Birds. Divorce comes into its own on third track Right On Time, a song which accepts the best is not what we settle for. Eventually worn down by the weight of the world and the need to act in the face of whirring mediocrity, anything can look like a positive step if left long enough.
Heady Metal does not use this as the base of its influence but certainly has a sharp line of reasoning running through it. Stiff and wonderful basslines are the feature here, the pangs it creates for the rest of these instrumental inclusions are an absolute necessity. Spirals of confusion mark an essential listen – Divorce is in touch with the world around them and hate what they see. Flip the coin, then, and listen to the patience and regret of Eat My Words. Rushed decisions are not the great idea they could be considered in the heat of the moment. Neat grooves and pace for Scratch Your Metal give some scope into how Divorce maintains its unique style. Their fixation on the delicate percussion and style, a tool as important as their vocal work and weighed away from the guitar additions throughout gives Heady Metal a fresh feel.
Quality work and well-layered tracks with clear intent behind them, what more could you ask for? Heady Metal is a promising release and if it does not lead anywhere brighter, further or stronger than this there will be hell to pay. Divorce must be championed at all costs. There is no doubt this is the next step of a genre stuffed too full of bands trying to latch onto the trailblazing lockdown success of Black Country, New Road. Separate from that, and dig deeper. Set the year off right with an EP package which has bold ender Heaven Is A Long Way on it. Their peak may be a long way to go, but with talents like this and consistency throughout, Divorce is set to reach those highs.
