Bryde – ‘The Volume Of Things’

Nothing brings life into focus quite like a pandemic. Normalcy becomes an alien concept and queuing to get into your local supermarket is now just the done thing. Friends are now those you confide with through your laptop screen and dating has been reduced to walking in the nearest park, stood two metres apart.

Among the confusing government messages and the questioning of whether you should invest your time into making banana bread, living with yourself has been an uncomfortable concept for many of us. That confusion and uneasiness is delicately spelled out in the beautiful sophomore record from Bryde, ‘The Volume of Things’.

Originally written in a time when many of us were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information we’re constantly subjected to, its release comes at an even more poignant moment. Over 12 songs, Bryde – or Sarah Howells – delves into the claustrophobia, indecisiveness and the general creeping dread that many of us feel.

Musically, Bryde sways between the sounds of SOAK and Laura Stevenson, with a smattering of modern-era Paramore – the latter of which is effortlessly displayed in the instant hit ‘Paper Cups’. Lyrically, she mines the depths of her conscious and intricately splays her inner thoughts of the increasingly volatile world into well-crafted tracks.

Highlights of ‘The Volume of Things’ include the brooding ‘Flies’ which tackles insecurity, and crescendos into an orchestral explosion that wouldn’t have felt out of place on recrods released by Smashing Pumpkins or early Biffy Clyro. The wonderful ‘The Trouble Is’ tackles those sleepless nights where a thousand thoughts race through your head.

‘Another Word for Free’ carries with it the vibe of a text message of help sent in the early hours of the morning, as Howells whispers the line “Would you be the weight off my shoulders?”. It’s another nod to the claustrophobic nature that many of us can feel in day-to-day life and something which ‘The Volume of Things’ addresses so well.

While there is some pretty difficult subject breached in this record, ‘The Volume of Things’ does strike a more hopeful tone. Bryde writes in a style that presents a chance to overcome these problems, wanting to leave them behind and aiming to push a little positive feeling out there. It’s a delightful record that delivers an impassioned message of hope in a way that only Howells could provide.

TOM WALSH