Swords, Lions & Gold

On the evidence of this, their debut album, Swords appear to have arrived at some kind of a musical crossroads. There’s the energy of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the soaring vocals of Florence And The Machine, Zola Jesus’ gothic moodiness, and the pop-folk tendencies of Daughter all in the melting pot. Which way they decide to turn will be vital to the fiture of the project.
For the moment, the young Dublin three-piece do a decent job of bringing all those sounds together on one record. The two singles so far, ‘All The Boys’ and ‘Lions & Gold’, have both been well received, but it’s when they stray into darker territory that Swords really begin to forge a clearer identity. Tracks like ‘The Menace’ and ‘8 Life Eat’ are both murky and moody, and showcase Diane Anglim’s spooky vocals at their most pleasing. On occasion, they choose to lighten the tone with snappy synths and distinct pop melodies but this is not their strongest suit. ‘All The Boys’ and ‘Nine Nights’, for example, could have benefited from some harsher instrumentation.
Beneath that mélange of sounds Anglim’s vocals work hardest at holding everything together. She switches from powerful songstress to cute balladeer and back again with ease. Ultimately though the constant shift in styles make the album harder to get into as an experience than would be ideal. Still, there’s plenty here to suggest that Swords can produce a killer record in the near future.