My Bloody Valentine
Mbv

I absolutely do not think I'm exaggerating when I claim that My Bloody Valentine is a fundamental band in the history of alternative music, redefining the role of noise in terms of melodic impact.

The Irish band left a huge musical legacy with the seminal album "Loveless", a record that fully achieves its goal: lulling the listener with an impressive wall of sound: melodies, dissonances, notes overlapping each other, soft, reverberated and whispered voices to create atmospheres bordering on psychedelia.

After more than two decades of silence, the band led by the creative genius of Kevin Shields is back with a new album, simply titled "mbv". The album was announced without much fuss and was released on YouTube streaming without warning. No previews, no leaking. From one day to the next, the group simply broke the silence with an album of those not heard for a long time.

Not only did the band succeed in fully reproducing the same formula of "Loveless", but they also succeeded in adding further details to a style that has now become recognizable to the point of becoming almost synonymous with the shoegaze and post-rock scene. The wall of guitars is more expressive and majestic than ever, detailed in passages and evolutions with a series of layers of guitars.

While "Loveless" as an album flows almost passively, "mbv" showcases a rhythmic section with plenty of groove, from the pop-noise of "Only tomorrow" (which sounds almost like Elliott Smith facing off against Sonic Youth) to the post-hardcore outburst "nothing is", with a hammering riff and a speed of execution that this band has certainly not accustomed its audience to.

This is a band that you either love or hate, but in my opinion… It was worth waiting 22 years for such a record!