It’s possibly down to the nascent pitch of the accent, but no other nation does anguished indie guitar music quite like the Scots. The third album from Selkirk’s Frightened Rabbit is a case in point. With heartfelt howls, trembled verses, dreamy slow builds, furious burst of guitars and drums, and impassioned choruses, much of The Winter of Mixed Drinks (produced, once again, by Peter Katis) sounds like a mash-up between The Phantom Band and Glasvegas, with a little early Snow Patrol thrown into the mix.
Not a bad thing. The uneasy opening track ‘Things’ sets the tone – vocalist Scott Alexander sings like he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown over harsh echoing grinding guitars, the drums steadily build, but the song deliberately never quite kicks the metaphorical door down: “Shed my clothes, shed my flesh down to the bone, burn the rest.”
Next comes the more listener-friendly ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ (already released as a single), where he sings, “All I am is a body adrift in water, salt and sky.” Despite the suicidal undertones, it’s actually quite an uplifting song. It’s followed by ‘The Loneliness and the Scream’, which soulfully oscillates between lost and found, and does exactly what it says on the tin.
And on it goes. Ultimately, this is a sharply-written record that blends light and darkness, joy and pain, clear-mindedness and confusion, shoe-gazing and tub-thumping – and, despite recurring musical patterns, never bores the listener. Hutchinson himself has described this album as being “about an escape and maybe even a slight breakdown.” If that’s the case, breakdowns have rarely sounded so appealing. Mix up and drink down!
KEY TRACK: LIVING IN COLOUR