Ride – ‘Weather Diaries’ (Wichita)

Legendary shoegazers Ride first reformed back in 2014, but Weather Diaries is their first studio album since 1996’s Tarantula. That album, pretty much released simultaneously with their dissolution, came out on Creation. Ride had been Creation’s first chart-bothering act, but one has to wonder how many of their label mates felt put into the shade when Oasis went, umm, supersonic in 1994.

Ask Ride fans what their favourite album is, and people will still staunchly defend one album over another. For my money, their debut Nowhere is still their best, and the first four EPs (Ride, Play, Fall and Today Forever)  that were released around that. It’s telling that this album’s opening track ‘Lannoy Point’ sounds like it could have been from Ride’s first twelve months.

The first four tracks are strong, and  ‘All I Want’ and ‘Home Is A Feeling’ have already been released building up to the albums. It’s reminiscent of how Ride were always capable of rocking or jangling, rather than simply producing the shoegazing journalistic sonic cathedrals of sound. The album’s been produced by Erol Alkan, who’s done a fantastic job of it. 

What is disappointing, though, is that it feels that the album does drop a bit when it reaches the title track, perhaps the weakest point on the album. It does seem to take a while to pick up again. There has been some criticism that the album hasn’t been sequenced in the best way – the closing track ‘White Sands’ somehow feels like an odd finish; while it’s beautiful, it doesn’t seem to feel like a proper ending.

However, this is a comeback album that mostly succeeds. While it may not win them huge quantities of new fans, it will certainly delight the many who fell for them all those years ago.

***1/2

Weather Diaries is out now on Wichita

1990s shoegaze heroes Ride first reformed back in 2014. They have announced the release of their fifth studio album in the summer on Wichita, produced by Erol Alkan.

Over the last 36 hours they have revealed two new tracks from the as-yet untitled album, ‘Charm Assault’ and ‘Home Is A Feeling.’ While the former is more reminiscent of their last studio album, 1996’s Tarantula, ‘Home Is A Feeling’ is a gentler affair, evoking the sound of their early EPs and debut album Nowhere.

Of ‘Charm Assault’ guitarist Andy Bell stated ‘[It’s] is a pretty straightforward expression of frustration and disgust at the people who currently run our country.’

Mark Gardener (vocals) says: “‘Home Is A Feeling’ to me is like a slow, wide-screen, sonically, layered, slowed motion warm wash. Like returning home as dawn rises totally exhausted and spangled after a long ..long …big, great night out’”

Andy Bell says: “Out of all the new songs ‘Home Is A Feeling’ comes closest to the early Ride sound. We felt comfortable going vintage on this tune because the album we are making has a pretty broad sonic scope. It’s a short and sweet, melodic tune, with stacked harmonies, reverbed-out guitars, slowed down drums, and a huge distorted bass sound. Erol [Alkan, producer] put his sage-scented electronic wizards hat on to sample up some of our harmonies and make them into a synthesiser preset, which we ended up using on this and some of the other tunes too. We wanted this song to sound jet lagged, so everything on it was recorded with varispeed, either faster or slower than real time. It’s like 1966 Beatles meets 1988 MBV… in other words, Ride.”

…it’s been a busy week.

The day job has required lots of marking, which has brought untold stresses with it.

The selling of records continues apace – I found myself trudging around Glasgow today with business partner and a heavy box of 7″s.

But there are now lots of places you can buy the single in Edinburgh and Glasgow with more to come. I even bumped into Matthew from Song, By Toad when I popped into Avalanche in Edinburgh at the end of the day.

There will be exciting reviews, music etc.. to come….I haven’t forgotten my blog and its’ loyal readers, I promise.

I had Ride on in the car over to Glasgow.

They still sound fab…

Ride -‘Chelsea Girl.’

…though this might be my favourite Ride track, and nothing to do with the Smashing Pumpkins song of the same name…

Ride -‘Today.’