Where The Heaven Are We

Among the first in the wave of bands which emerged from Birmingham in early 2012 – along with fellow favourites Peace and JAWS – Swim Deep’s eagerly-anticipated debut album finally arrived earlier this month. In a similar arc to those of their contemporaries, the hype surrounding Swim Deep was fuelled by a cocktail of Afropop-tinged, sing-along singles, as well as a less-than-subtle stab at achieving heartthrob status, and an obedient jump onto the ‘B-Town’ bandwagon. All three mentioned bands spend their time adrift in sunny fantasies (Peace’s ‘California Daze’, JAWS’ ‘Toucan Surf’ etc.), but with this release, Swim Deep make an admirable (and yeah, probably successful) attempt at becoming the front runners.

The first half of Where The Heaven Are We is a delight, beginning with a relaxed introduction before falling into ‘Francisco’, which really makes its presence felt with its measured snare beat and euphoric synths. ‘King City’ is third on the roster, and serves as the only moment spent in the shade with its “want-but-can’t-haves”, surly guitar and growling undertones. While not quite a black sheep, ‘King City’ feels slightly distanced from the rest of the album, if only because it simply doesn’t sound as wholly optimistic as its peers.

In an interview with the NME, frontman Austin Williams described the album as “[like] tiny coloured stars beaming from inside a cloud, and they’re beaming out prism colours”. Indeed, song titles like ‘Colour Your Ways’ and ‘Make My Sun Shine’ are very telling of the fey, daydreamt melodies the band attempt to spin, and the band have mixed success in this field. ‘Make My Sun Shine’ possesses its fair share of lyrical congeniality (“You make my sun shine /  You make my watch tick slowly”) and is a great example of  the sunny figuratives that lace the record, though early single ‘Honey’ becomes repetitive and slightly boring after a few listens, despite its massive, instantaneous hooks.

While it isn’t a stunningly original album, Swim Deep seem to have recognised this already, and have come up with something fun, hazy and honestly enjoyable.

‘The Sea’ arrives at the album’s midpoint, complete with a ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ guitar line (didn’t Busted do the same with ‘Year 3000’?) and a host of “ooh”s and “aah”s. It’s a disappointingly lazy affair, and with it, Where The Heaven Are We slips into a musical holding pattern. There are moments of ‘balladry’, songs where the band come close to Madcester-esque territory occupied by Peace, and more songs about girls and sunshine, with only ‘Stray’ attempting to crack the tedium.

This all ends when the album closes with ‘She Changes the Weather’: already a successful single, and easily the album’s best song. Being one of the band’s most recently-penned songs, perhaps this is a snapshot of things to come for Swim Deep, and if so, we should be optimistic. Most of the tracks presented on Where The Heaven Are We seem to be racing one another to their big hooks or sing-along choruses, but ‘She Changes the Weather’ takes its time, building pace and melting through four-and-a-half minutes of dreamy piano and synthesisers.

While it can definitely be said that this album isn’t stunningly original, and has a hefty debt of influence elsewhere, Swim Deep seem to have recognised this already, and have come up with something fun, hazy and honestly enjoyable, especially in its stronger moments.  Its languorous – but not listless – attitude really makes it an album for the summer months, drifting around in sunlight and heat as if it has all the time it wants. Why not spend the afternoon sunbathing in the park? Why not spend the whole day adrift about town with friends? As with JAWS and other Birmingham hopefuls, escapism is the name of the game, and to this end Swim Deep have done a fine, fine job in that regard.

Similar To: Peace, Splashh

MP3: ‘King City’, ‘Colour Your Ways’, ‘She Changes the Weather’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMLYWXFO1Oo