Ride - Weather Diaries (Wichita Recordings) 2017
8
After an absence of almost 20 years, the Oxford four piece reformed and returned to the live scene in 2014 selling out headline tours around the world. Comprising of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence Colbert and Steve Queralt, Ride return with Weather Diaries, their first album in twenty years. Despite their absence, it feels like they never went away, and their genuine quality is undeniable and untouchable.
Produced by legendary DJ, producer and remixer Erol Alkan and mixed by the great Alan Moulder (Arctic Monkeys, Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers) who mixed their seminal 1990 album Nowhere and produced its follow up Going Blank Again, Weather Diaries shows us that they decided to pick up where they left off. In fact, they sound bigger and louder. Their 60’s psych melodies are still there along with their 80’s alternative guitar styles, but it’s their post-rock soundscapes and the classic britpop elements that really work like the perfect descent into their chaotic implosion.
Politically charged and straight to the point, Ride’s artfully expanded their bubblegum art-rock template on their fifth album.