True to Escapists’ stated intention to create a sound that describes “the energy of staying-up all night” when the “bright-eyed optimism of the day…quickly evaporate[s] into paranoia and disorientation”, the original offering of new single Blood wrapped itself in haunting elegance and funked-up euphoria. In this latest, stripped back version of the track, the British four-piece have created the perfect aural evocation of the all-nighter.
With their sonic nod to British contemporaries Bombay Bicycle Club, Escapists seem similarly poised to become the latest indie intellects to reimagine the genre into a more morose and introspective state.
When reinventing Blood within a new acoustic haze, Escapists have been careful not to strip away, or steal from, their lyrical subject matter. In fact, the midnight musings and dawn driven disorientation are all the more evident for the refined reinvention. The ethereal realms of the original remain intact, with the clarity and sloppiness of dusk-til-dawn obscurity cyclically and intermittently relayed throughout. Fluid and hazy changeability continually emerges as rhythmic cohesion meets afterhours dreamscapes. With lead singer Simon Glancy murmuring ‘we’ve been up all night / slurring vocabulary / can’t you see your eyes / oh they’re kinda scary’, the lyrical descent into late night reality removal issues forth from an equally disorientated musical backdrop.
An acoustic display of pathetic fallacy, with Blood Escapists have truly curated the soundscape to their own subject matter.
