While She Sleeps find a clarity of message on their softest album yet

So What? is an ambitious project where Sheffield While She Sleeps find a more melodic and measured approach and gain immeasurably from it. The metalcore sections are given gravitas by being used sparingly and the deft use of electronics livens up the album while retaining much more focus on the lyrics.

They’ve found an interesting niche: they use softer melodies to underscore breakdowns or to buoy choruses in much the same way Architects use orchestral sounds. For the most part it is effective, and as a result, unlike most rock albums with electronic elements, it shouldn’t date very poorly.

The opening track ‘Anti-Social’ has an intro reminiscent of DVSR’s ‘1v1’, a hype track of legendary status, and delivers one of the more aggressive tracks on the album. The lyrics establish the overarching theme of Millennial dissociation from and despair at our countries, societies and discourses, although the chorus is a little weak lyrically.

I felt it was tonally consistant throughout

However, this immediately segues into ‘I’ve seen it all’, a masterpiece deconstructing the source of the unhappiness we see everywhere in a consumer society. The cadence of the chorus and the great vocal performance makes the listener want to get up and move. It’s an anthemic song you can’t help but love.

Titular song ‘So What?’ explores the core concept of the album: if you do nothing but consume, so what if you die now or live forever? There’s no meaning to that. After a soft intro that stirs memories of listening to Feeder as a kid, we get an urgent blast of metalcore before the song settles into a catchy electronic hook with soaring riffs layered on top. Without being very heavy, the song fosters a sense of urgency before leading into ‘The Guilty Party’. One of the heaviest songs on the record, it relays an attempt to deal with the hypocrisy and guilt associated with knowing you as a human are complicit in everything your music raises awareness against.

‘Elephant’ returns to the DVSResque guitar tones to argue that things are not just not okay now, they have never been okay. We need to change human nature to change the human condition. The softest song on the record, ‘Good Grief’ is about the nature of empathy and how even if we can’t fix all our own problems, we can empathise and help others with theirs. ‘Set you Free’ and ‘Back of my mind’ present some of the most experimental and interesting riffs on the album, before we move into ‘Gates of Paradise’. It acts as a summative paragraph for the themes of the album. Upon first listen it actually drew significant comparisons in function with ‘I can feel it calling’ by Trophy Eyes.

Not every song is a masterpiece – not every risk pays off, but it’s well worth a listen

As we can see, this is an album that thematically, lyrically, and musically aims very high. Does it pull it off? Well, many albums tackling this subject matter can come off as an angsty cringe-ridden and childish record. It’s to this album’s credit that the only point a lyric made me cringe was the chorus of the first song. I felt it was tonally consistent throughout. I thought it was experimental but with continuity of sound enough to help tie the themes. But the songs never blend into one another. The use of electronics was some of the best in a rock album I’ve heard in a while as well.

Ultimately, at a social moment like the one we are in at the moment, albums like this are entirely justified. I have no doubt that this is an album that, for many people, is something they need to hear right now. The musical experimentation means this is something a pop-rock fan can enjoy as well. I have no doubt this album will expand their following massively, and on the back of this I’d say it’s fully deserved. Not every song is a masterpiece – not every risk pays off, but it’s well worth a listen and may surprise many, and win unlikely fans from all quarters.

Essential tracks: ‘I’ve seen it all’, ‘So What?’, ‘Good Grief’ 

Rating: 8/10