Send "Wild Beasts " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Drownedinsound |
 Wild Beasts’ greatest strength has always been that they didn’t have the common decency to start life in any trendy tastemaker city. As such their music to date has tended to sit more towards the literary,‘artistic’ end of the scale, resisting the influence of the zeitgeist-led output of musical hotspots. After the cabaret mayhem of debut Limbo, Panto, Two Dancers found the band tentatively flirting with the mainstream with ‘Hooting and Howling’, the ad-sanctioned ‘Underbelly’ and the small matter of a Mercury nomination. And so we arrive at Smother, with a world of expectation on its shoulders.‘Lion’s Share’ kicks things off in suitably isolated form, perfectly-pitched instrumentation offsetting typically opera-gone-bonkers lyrics like “I take you in my mouth/Like a lion takes its game”. Hot on its heels, ‘Bed of Nails’ describes its recipient as ”like a lifeline Ophelia”, hinting at that tragic moment in any relationship when you realise it’s over, yet carry on anyway in one last-ditch, desperate attempt to leave your mark on a person. Possibly literally, if Thorpe’s intention to “be blatant as a bailiff/I want my lips to blister when we kiss” has anything to do with it. If you had any concerns that the band’s recent move to Dalston might have preened out everything that makes them interesting, herein lies a lyrical goldmine to allay those fears and then some. ‘Plaything’ is ‘Bed Of Nails’s evil twin, musing on the inherent selfishness of relationships driven by physical desires over emotional ones. Thorpe ponders, almost pontificates, on his treatment of the plaything in question: “wondering how cruel I’ve been”, with the underlying sense of not wanting to know the answer to the question while the going’s good. As in life, along this album’s shadowy landscape even shallow relationships are dotted with landmines....full text |
| Guardian |
| Wild Beasts have never been obvious. In 2008, Limbo, Panto unveiled Hayden Thorpe's extraordinary countertenor and songs with titles such as Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants were never likely to trouble Radio 1. The follow-up, Two Dancers, managed to receive a Mercury nomination, even with its operatic-graphic descriptions of "dancing cocks". Their third album ditches their old Associates/Roxy/Sparks guitar sound in favour of rolling grooves of electronica and percussion more akin to Antony and the Johnsons gone Talk Talk. Smother isn't immediate, but gradually emerges to be a thing of extraordinary beauty, containing dreamlike adventures of lust and longing. Thorpe remains risque – there are lines such as "I take you in my mouth like a lion takes his prey" and "Take off your chemise, I'll do as I please" – but mostly the sexuality is understated. The smouldering tension in closer End Come Too Soon (about premature ejaculation, presumably) is unbearable, but stunning. Smother isn't conventional chart material, but will make their burgeoning cult impossible to ignore....full text |
| Bbc |
| Wild Beasts’ rise from cult concerns loved by a critical clique, through Mercury Prize-nominated sorts with a sharp and saucy twist on typical indie tropes, to this third album of quiet, measured majesty represents a victory for individuality over intermittent trend-hopping. The Kendal-formed four-piece have only ever done things their way – and while early singles for Leeds-based indie Bad Sneakers lacked the production polish of later recordings, they possessed a singular potential. The band now ranks as this nation’s most wonderfully esoteric, absorbingly unique act. They are a vivid example of Britain’s ever-evolving, always riveting relationship with pop, able to court commercial audiences while maintaining an important air of confidence, of conviction with their craft, which drives these songs into the heart and soul of the listener. Smother was created in relative isolation, in Wales, and it sounds like it: on Deeper, Tom Fleming sings that "all else falls away", and while in the company of this record it’s entirely likely that the outside world will, indeed, fade into insignificance. It’s that sort of special collection, one that manifests an entirely believable, almost tangible soundworld which one can’t help but inhabit alongside its creators. And it’s only a few steps forward before the first rabbit hole blocks the path, into which a stumble is inevitable. Hayden Thorpe introduces Lion’s Share atop a synthesised throb; but it’s when the plaintive piano begins that the piece commences its hypnotic charm, and one becomes deeply enveloped. "What are you running from?" asks Fleming, here taking the lyrical spotlight more frequently than on the past two albums. Truth is that we’re not running from anything at all. Rather, we’re racing towards the band, eager to discover what’s around the next compositional turn. Lion’s Share is gorgeous, no question about it. A simple, seductive song that opens an album which, largely, continues in a similar vein: here lies mystery, romance, tall tales told by men who surely wouldn’t just make this stuff up. It’s there in their eyes, the reality of the experience and the sincerity of their stories. Again, Thorpe’s thematically entrenched in a loved-one’s undergarments on more than one occasion: Bed of Nails is one such number, albeit with lines like "surround me like a warm bath" conveying a more emotional connection than the borderline smut of their last LP, Two Dancers. Plaything is a little more teasing, rather more distant with its affections – although it discusses uncertainty with what its protagonist’s paramour is thinking, suggesting tentativeness where once there was thrust and swagger. Invisible is wholly different – Fleming, flanked by understated instrumentation, seems lost in melancholy, offering farewells to "things I thought I’d want"; its final line, a literal kiss-off, is devastatingly exquisite. The song is another tender, almost unsettlingly touching moment on a collection replete with them....full text |
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