Review Summary: Blue sky’s just a cloud away
Floodlights have been one of Australia’s best kept musical secrets for a bit now, with their first two (excellent) albums showcasing a jangly foundation enhanced by folk leanings and tinges of gloomy post-punk. Geographical factors might allow for comparisons to Gang of Youths and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, but the band eschews the anthemic tendencies of the former and the relatively light-hearted vibes of the latter in favor of a more intimate and moody earnestness. Third LP
Underneath sees the collective at their best yet, delivering eleven impressive songs in a fuller and richer framework - nicely textured yet punchy, while sitting on the artsy side of the indie rock spectrum. As a record crafted during a period of extensive touring across multiple continents,
Underneath is pervaded by deeply personal longing, a contemplative state periodically interrupted by bouts of offer-caffeinated and restless vigor. Emotionally, it’s quite glum, but full of enough little touches and sticky melodies to keep the mood up. It’s the kind of record in which a different track speaks to you with each listen - one moment the solemn horns and piercing lyrics of “Buoyant” will save your soul, the next the straight-ahead romp of “Can You Feel It” will stop you in your tracks. And then there’s the epic “5AM”, the kind of nocturnal struggle for purpose which this sort of album both requires and deserves as a closer. If it feels like Floodlights have pulled back on some of the more unorthodox fringes of their sound in favor of a style more easily pigeonholed as simply “rock”, it only goes to show that we dearly need more “rock” albums like this, the kind that don’t sugarcoat the darkness but don’t let it triumph either. The brilliant penultimate track acknowledges that “
the light won’t shine forever”, a statement which feels awfully poignant for a guy living in a country where the (figurative) lamps are flickering ever more ominously each day, but follows up that gut punch with the simple admonition “
but it is now”. As timely wisdom which reminds us to treasure the little moments of joy, who can ask for more?
