Esben & The Witch were one of 2011’s most hotly tipped bands – or at least they were until people paid close attention to their music, a rumbling, clanking mix of horror soundtrack, nasty shoegaze and ‘80s goth. Tumultuous and dissonant, this was not the stuff of Brits Critic Choice shortlist. It the kind of thing that might have popped up on an early 4AD compilation, squeezed between Birthday Party and Dif Juz.
Two years later, their coughs would appear softened somewhat. Granted opener ‘Icelandic Spar’ – not an ode to their favorite Reykjavik convenience store, alas – kicks off in an industrial frenzy, but things soon calm down and, oh look, there’s front woman Rachel Davies, singing in something approximating a breathy coo. ‘Slow Wave’ is an even bigger surprise, with its Durutti Column guitar, Florence Welch-esque vocals from Davies and what, at first inspection, sounds suspiciously like a proper chorus. Snow-drifts of angst are, admittedly, ever present but when Wash The Sins sloughs off the despair it’s properly catchy, a point brought home on the brisk single ‘Deathwaltz’. Here, at last, is the record everybody hoped Esben & The Witch would release first time around.