Shapes of Screams review: Genius in absurdity

It's hard to put your finger on exactly why Lostalone aren't regular stadium fillers by this point, the release date of their third album, Shapes of Screams. They've had the songs since their debut record, as anyone who's heard Blood Is Sharp or Love Will Eat Your Alive will testify, and there's an almost Muse-esque quality about their live performances, full of flair and showmanship. They've got an impressive list of famous fans too, having been hand picked to support bands as huge as Paramore, 30 Seconds To Mars and My Chemical Romance on sold out arena tours. Even if the Derbyshire trio never achieve the mainstream success they so blatantly deserve, they can at least be proud of Shapes of Screams, their most ambitious record to date and undoubtedly one of the best albums of the year so far.

It's clear from the very first song on Shapes of Screams that the band has undergone an impressive musical evolution since the release of their 2012 second album I'm a UFO in this City, a record which, while full of polished, finely crafted rock songs, was by no means a genre game changer. Shapes of Screams is something else however, it writes a new chapter in the rock n' roll rulebook by combining the absurd pomp of the finest 80's glam rock with more violent, hardcore elements to create something which has genuinely never been tried before. This is no more apparent than on Crusaders, the first track, which merges the distorted riffs of previous Lostalone songs such as Did You Get What You Prayed For with a synth-infused chorus complete with marching drums and pop-punk bass lines. And that's not to mention the wobbling vocal effects, lullaby inspired ending and a section which seems to musically reference as many legendary guitarists as the band could come up with, from BB King to Brian May. What's quite extraordinary is that this colossal level of experimentation isn't limited to just one song, it's consistent of the whole record. Take the synthpop melody of Mental Health, or the off beat funk metal of Apathy, or the Christian choir employed to such great effect on Requiem, this album simply has it all. Influence from May's band Queen is still more apparent here than on their previous efforts, from falsetto guitar solos to harmonised choruses which even Freddie Mercury would have been proud of, but there are elements of Muse, My Chemical Romance and just about every 80's stadium rock band ever to have existed on display too.

More than simply its massive experimentation and phenomenal ambition, the true success of Shapes of Screams is that by combining such a huge range of ideas and influences, Lostalone have managed to record an album which actually works. It would have been all too easy for the record to have become as bloated and unlistenable as so many early experimental albums, but this is never the case on Shapes of Screams. The rooting of the album in the brilliant but beaten-track songs of I'm a UFO in this City allows for the experimentation to take place without preventing the tracks from being cohesive rock songs; there are no twenty five minute epics without melody or structure and the album remains a highly ambitious piece of work without becoming a caricature or travesty.

Shapes of Screams could be the most ambitious album of the year so far, but the real beauty of the record is that it surpasses success in every one of its lofty aspirations. It's catchy, memorable and striking original, enough to give you goosepimples and force you stop whatever you're doing to give it your full attention, a rare achievement given the huge supply of generic popular music around. A true cynic might call its unapologetically epic style ridiculous, but perhaps its ridiculousness is what makes it special. Either way, I could find no way of faulting Shapes of Screams, Lostalone have set the standard for 2014, and it's going to take something quite spectacular to top it.

10/10