When Cork quintet The Altered Hours decided it was time to roll up their sleeves and record their debut album they opted to return to Berlin and to the studio (the Funkhaus) which had already captured magic for them once before in the form of ‘Sweet Jelly Roll’. It was a gamble which has paid off in spades for the psych and shoegaze act. On the intense and hypnotic In Heat Not Sorry, much of the music is utterly spellbinding.
Eschewing studio trickery for a more raw and immersive live feel, the ten-track collection is full of haunting, hazy harmonies and skewed guitars – in short, it’s the sound of a band who are reaching the peak of their powers. ‘Birds’ is a stand-out, with Elaine Howley’s fevered vocals and the rumbling bassline making for a gorgeously gothy four minutes; ‘Way Of Sorrow’ is a glorious, bug-eyed post-punk stomper; ‘Who’s Saving Who?’, meanwhile, recalls the Desert Hearts in their pomp. Though the record is slightly front-loaded, singers and the aforementioned Howley make for a formidable, world-beating vocal tag team. Overall In Heat... is a magnificent debut.

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