Echo and the Bunnymen

Meteorites

BY Michael RancicPublished May 23, 2014

5
Meteorites is the Bunnymen's first album in five years. According to the band, Ian McCulloch intended to work on another solo record to follow 2012's Pro Patria Mori, but all that changed when he invited guitarist Will Sergeant to join in — which is just a roundabout way of them saying "We didn't tell the bassist." For much of Meteorites, strings attempt to fill in the hole that was the band's characteristically dynamic, propulsive low-end, to mixed results.

The title track opens the record in a stunning way, McCulloch's rich-as-ever voice leading an orchestra through a gorgeous urban hymn. Unfortunately, the band spend the rest of the album searching for an elusive hook, with the driving exploration of the Eastern scale that is "Constantinople" and the string-swept funk of "Is This A Breakdown" coming the closest.
(Pledge Music)

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