Album Review: Basciville, Love In The Time Of The State

Basciville are back! Love In The Time Of The State is a texturally rich LP that dwells on the existential tribulations that plague so many of us in times of despair. Wexford-based brothers Cillian and Lorcan Byrne are trying to make sense of our current moment with the assistance of soaring harmonies and astute songwriting.

The LP opens with ‘This Is Not A Dream’, a careful instrumental adorned with an uneasy arpeggiating piano progression that foreshadows much tumult to come. There is an abiding sense of malaise throughout the record, though the leisurely, reflective ‘Saintmaking’ is a welcome reprieve from the emotional maelstrom.

Later, the restrained-yet-roiling ‘Meteors & Letdowns’ wins the award for best song title. Its sparse production and slow-burning vocals give way to a larger-than-life cacophony by the track’s end. Indeed, the tune captures the Byrne brothers at their rawest and most honest, and it’s satisfying to hear them finally banish restraint and let their feelings out, through a wall of sound.

In Love In The Time Of The State, Basciville paint a bleak picture of a world that brims with hurt. Yet with instrumentation as lush as theirs, listeners are ironically reminded of the ever-present beauty possible on this planet. And by the album’s atmospheric end, Basciville have circled back around to – could it be? – a kernel of hope.

8/10