Battles - Gloss Drop

It's dropped and it's glossy. Yes as I'm sure you're all well aware, one of the most highly anticipated records of the year, Battles - Gloss Drop, has inevitably wormed its way on to the world wide web way ahead of its June release date. Combine this with the announcement of an additional London date this Summer and my Battles excitement levels have been upgraded to Fukushima levels. The fact that the album is superb doesn't do much to dowse that.



It's fair to say that we've waited patiently for new material from the New Yorkers. Their 2007 début Mirrored catapulted the group to mainstream success following a string of frankly uninspiring EPs. Since then we've had Atlas on repeat, struggled to see them perform live* and drummers all around the world have raised their crash a couple of foot. I'd probably go so far as to say the wait has been too long but I can hardly begrudge them that as I sit here listening to what is certainly going to be heralded as one of the best albums of 2011.

Gloss Drop is pretty much more of the same; which translates as a resounding endorsement. It's also a spectacular achievement considering the band is now a trio following the departure of Tyondai Braxton, who used to fulfil the band's (albeit limited) vocal remit. In his stead, Gloss Drop features some cameo vocals from Gary Numan and Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino. In a recent interview with Time Out Japan, the band admit they're still not sure how they're going to pull off the guest vocals live:

"It is kind of like reverse karaoke right now… I had this idea of incorporating two life-size, seven foot tall video screens, so that when we cue the vocals there's going to be a video of the actual singers popping up there, singing."

The band go on to mention that they drank an awful lot of beer whilst recording the record; an inspiration to us all. I wish I could combine Logic and beer half as effectively.

There are still tickets available for the show at Heaven, London on the 8th of June. You can even get the full album thrown in for just £3 on top of your ticket price.

Battles - Ice Cream (Feat. Matias Aguayo) by weallwantsome1

* I did see Battles at Roskilde Festival in 2008, but it was one of the drunkest experiences of my life (they played after Brian Jonestown Massacre) so I'm not counting that one.