The Horrors - ‘Skying’

Stream the album now below and read on for the album review!
The Horrors - Skying has been, by far, my most-anticipated album of the year. Primary Colours, reviewed very favorably here back in 2009, has practically been on repeat wherever I go on my iPod since it came out, and I’ve been enthusiastic about Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira’s Cat’s Eyes…it seemed as though nothing could go wrong musically with a new Horrors album. While my impressions of it are now more favorable than at first listen, it’s not quite what I expected to be, but then again, Primary Colours wasn’t quite what one would’ve expected after Strange House, was it?
Skying opens with “Changing the Rain”, a more deliberate effort in a neo-psychedelic sound, a cross between something off The Glove’s Blue Sunshine and The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Badwan’s voice throughout the album is echoey and dreamy, with the musical elements not infrequently recalling kaleidoscopes and forest greenery (the synesthesia is kicking in again). “You Said” is cinematic, progressively more sweeping and intense, followed by the insistent, dare I say groovy “I Can See Through You”, which would not be out of place at a roller-rink.
“Endless Blue” drags along, despite some edgy guitar work, and is one that I skip on the way to “Dive In”, my favorite track of the lot. Badwan sounds beautiful here and the music goes through several changes in mood throughout its 5 minutes (many of the tracks here are above average length for the typical LP, ranging from 4:12 to 8:42), simultaneously hopeful and desperate; an achievement equal to “Sea Within a Sea” from Primary Colours.
The first track initially available from Skying, “Still Life”, while containing some trippy keyboard elements and driving melodies, is a bit too repetitive and stagnant. “Wild Eyed” is a brief, spooky interlude before the longest track on the album, “Moving Further Away”, a vibrant track which owes its existence to the likes of krautrock, the cure, and Gary Numan. “Monica Gems” is unfortunately a forgettable, retro-psych sound-alike which might’ve been better off as a b-side.  Closer “Oceans Burning” packs a similar punch to “Sea Within a Sea” as an ending track, haunting and exploding with a built-up power that has been creeping along for the album’s duration.
There is something about Skying which seems half-realized - there are some good tunes here but the groundbreaking or future classic flavor that Primary Colours seemed to have is lacking, possibly because the transition in style does not seem as much of a leap here as Strange House was to Primary Colours. Nevertheless, it is a rather good album worth listening, and re-listening to, just not as magical as I had hoped for.The Horrors | Facebook | MySpace Music