THE WAR ON DRUGS - Lost In The Dream

It starts with a rattle over gentle, swirling synth keys. Then it hits; ‘like the arrival of a new day’. ‘Under the Pressure’ opens the third album from Philadelphia indie-rock outfit The War on Drugs; the follow up to 2011’s critically acclaimed Slave Ambient.

The War on Drugs is very much the brainchild of lead singer Adam Granduciel. He wrote, recorded and produced almost the whole album himself, with bandmates only briefly making an appearance on the record. That’s not to say though, that the sound of this album isn’t one of a band bound tight together.  

This is no run of the mill ‘indie-rock’ record; far from it, in fact. From the sparse opening keys and crisp drums of Under the Pressure, accompanied by Granduciel’s Dylan-esque croon (you know that one where vowels go on a split second longer than they should?), you can almost feel yourself heading off down the open road. The guitars wrap around each other, slowly but surely dragging you forward with them, building and building until you find yourself almost lost as textured keys swirl around during an almost 3-minute outro. 

Straight into the albums lead single ‘Red Eyes’ where glittering synthesisers melt into acoustic strums and electric riffs creating a Bruce Springsteen-meets-Arcade Fire style stomp. Granducial’s vocals blend together with the music, creating an extra texture.

‘Suffering’ slows the early pace down; sounding much more wistful and reminiscent than the dynamic openers. Achingly so as Granduciel asks ‘Will you be here, suffering?’ 

‘An Ocean in Between the Waves’ drags things forward again; the drums and the bass piggy backing more swirling synthesisers and Dire Straits influenced reverberating guitars. The pace builds and builds like an avalanche sliding down a mountain, culminating in a thundering guitar solo, until the brakes are slammed on to end a soaring 7-minute epic… straight in to the albums centre piece, ‘Eyes to the Wind’; an uplifting, country tinged anthem. Subtle saxophone riffs floating overhead while a sprinkle of keys flitter in and out. 

‘Burning’ carries on this alt-country styling with the ghost like synths. The album closes with ‘In Reverse’ that sees the tone of the album end as it started, with Granduciel singing about struggle and loss. Yet, through all this, it still sounds amazingly uplifting.

There’s no subtly here. This album knows exactly what it is and exactly what it wants to be. The apparent absence of anything resembling a chorus only strengthens the feeling of a freewheeling, spacious sounding album. It seems to offer something new with every listen. There are certain moments which do sound reminiscent of other artists but it would be wrong to get to bogged down in comparisons, although this could end up dividing opinion on the album for a few. For The War on Drugs fans, though, it seems like a natural successor to Slave Ambient, Granduciel perfecting sounds he’d previously flirted with. It’s a modern twist on something that may not be particularly new, yet still sounds up to date, and it’s somehow satisfying to know that music like this can still be made, every once in a while. 

Words: Darren Montgomery