The Horrors unveil a new maturity on the Park Stage

I’ll be the first one to admit that when The Horrors first came into popularity around the release of their debut album, 'Strange House', that I simply detested them. Songs like 'Sheena is a Parasite' and 'Count in Fives' did not nothing but anger me, and so I just ignore them and completely forgot all about them.

But a few months ago I wanted to see what their new song, 'A Sea Within A Sea' sounded like when a video of it appeared on their website. It had to be good, it had a member of The Jesus & Mary Chain, Douglas Hart, producing it, and it wasn't good, it was the best song I've heard this year.

I couldn't understand their complete change in sound, but it was very much to my taste and I was simply blown away.

It seems to me that with new album, 'Primary Colours', which was released only a couple of months ago, that the band have really matured and found the sound that they're most comfortable with, and it really works. The album was met with critical acclaim from all sectors of the media, and so I was very excited at the prospect of seeing them live in the beautiful surroundings of the Park Stage.

Their performance had everything; a perfect time slot (at dusk), a perfect surrounding, and no songs from their first album. Result.

Opening with 'Mirrors Image', the band introduced their new krautrock/shoegaze style to many, racing through the finest selection from their new album, and it was warmly received by the ever growing audience.

But it was set closer 'A Sea Within A Sea' that really showed the crowd what they're all about these days. They're no longer a bunch on scenesters, now turning into maturity. It's half-way through the set closer where the song transforms into an electro gem, similar to Depeche Mode that gets everybody moving. Cue mass crowd surfing.

With this, I feel that I've found one of my festival anthems for 2009, and with high profile slots coming up at T in the Park, Reading & Leeds, and at All Tomorrow's Parties this December with My Bloody Valentine, the band have a very busy year ahead of them, but one that will be ultimately rewarding for them, and could cement them in the musical canon.

If you weren't a fan of them when they first came out, you need to check them, I can assure you that you won't be disappointed. If their set at Glastonbury is anything to go by, their live set is spectacular. Faris Rotter, lead singer of the band, has turned into a real front man.

Setlist:
Mirrors Image
Three Decades
Do You Remember
I Can't Control Myself
Scarlet Fields
I Only Think of You
Who Can Say
A Sea Within A Sea

Latest Updates