Kill Switch Organica

After the success of Moontan, Golden Earring could have easily parlayed its success into international stardom by continuing to play up that album's commercial elements. Instead, the group did an about-face, pursuing uncommercial song themes and pushing the prog rock side of its sound to the fore (this move included the addition of Dutch prog rock keyboardist Robert Jan Stips, formerly of Supersister, to the lineup). The band even lampooned the sexy cover art of its recent hit album with a similar cover that replaced the gorgeous showgirl on Moontan with a marionette. The result is an album that lacks the consistent sound and coherence of Moontan, but makes up for it with an adventurous spirit and plenty of instrumental firepower.

Ride return with the 6th studio album of their career and their second since reforming in 2014 and signing to Wichita. As with their previous album, Weather Diaries, Erol Alkan was in the producer’s chair, and Alan Moulder (with Caesar Edmunds) took care of the mixing (making this the fourth Ride album he has worked on). Gathering influences from sources such as the Jean Michel Basquiat exhibition at the Barbican, and the post punk sound of The Fall and Sonic Youth, Ride have made an album which contains echoes of their earliest days as a band, while bringing these elements into 2019. Both musically and lyrically, this is clearly an album made by a band who love being back together and who are at the very top of their game.

Ride handed the entirety of their highly acclaimed sixth studio album, This Is Not A Safe Place, to mysterious London act, Pêtr Aleksänder, who stripped the songs back to just the band's vocals and added their customarily beautiful string arrangements, keys and synth textures beneath them.The results take Ride deep into the neo-classical / ambient territory that a couple of the remixes of their previous album hinted at. These new 'reimaginings' will appeal to fans of those musical styles, as well as those who consider themselves a part of the Ride fanbase.