The Open - 'Statues' (Universal) Released 06/02/06

Maybe there’s something to be learnt from The Open.  When problems arise, why choose therapy or the acupuncturists needle (or the junkies for that matter) when escapism into the experimental beckons.  Faced with a poison melting pot of relationship heartbreak and departing drummers, not to mention the pressure of the “difficult” second album, they said au’revoir to Blighty and dothed their berets to the inspiring landscapes of Avignon. Thus culturally inspired, The Open carefully manipulated and enlarged the maquette of their debut and sculpted ‘Statues’.

Flying in the face of post-Libertines urchins and indie same-olds, ‘Statues’ glowers with depth and dark atmospherics over an expansive, melodic landscape.  ‘Forever’ combines disparate brass erring just the right side of the coffee table, fearsome drums and dreamily sinister vocals to create an ethereal and evocative opening to a subsequently mottled and diverse album.  Haunting track ‘Two Lovers in the Rain’ is equally stirring, with poignant spatterings of piano and brass alongside eeire vocals to create a beautifully morbid epic. ‘My House’ builds on these expansive objectives, with menacing background drums acting as the fanfare to searing experimental twists and turns.  Dreamy interludes and lush vocals wrench into impassioned falsettos and frantic distortional feedback sessions, before tantalisingly settling back into the hypnosis of Bayley’s ghostly vocals.

Even landscapes such as this must have their eyesores, however. ‘Seasons of Change’ sounds frighteningly like a forgotten Feeder blandstravaganza, while ‘Fallen Tree’ somehow manages to gloss over the attempts at raw emotion with a thick coating of almost nu-metal howls.  Even powerful single ‘We Can Never Say Goodbye’ undoubtedly succeeds in carrying the desperate anxiety that infuses it, but the Manics style vocals and disjointed feel add to the sense of wondering just what it is The Open are truly aiming for.

A myriad of sounds and ideas jerking amid one another, ‘Statues’ would Be the Venus De Milo had someone daubed on lipgloss and blusher and added famously discarded arms, maybe throwing on psychedelic kaftan for good measure. In places, these are lackadaisically scrawled, but for the most part these extravagant designs are painted with the finesse of a true artiste.