Opening track ‘Dimmed Sun’ throws us immediately into a harsher, more angular mood that fans may be expecting. It’s still atmospheric – but we’re in the middle of a storm. Friction sticks hairs on end. Every hit of skuzzed out bass and guitars is felt. Still, lead vocalist David Bello’s voice floats melodically over the surface, seemingly unaffected by the churning below.

‘Se Sufre Pero Se Goza’ is the single that The World Is A Beautiful Place used to announce the album. Almost a mission statement, it carries that same sense that the atmosphere is becoming unforgiving. This is far more punk than The World Is A Beautiful Place have traditionally been. The name itself translates to ‘You suffer but you enjoy’ – both a promise and a threat. The song closes with the screamed line, ‘Unconsoled by any music / I am no longer afraid’. It’s self-referential, and defines the album’s emotional tone.

It was ‘Beware The Centrist’ that actually released first. Fast-paced, dissonant, and brimming with anxiety. The vocals are screamed – including by keyboardist and vocalist Katie Dvorak, whose contributions have until this point been soft and dreamlike. As with ‘Se Sufre Pero Se Goza’, ‘Beware The Centrist’ is The World Is A Beautiful Place engaging directly with fraught political realities. The world has become a little less beautiful, and ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ feels like an acknowledgement of that fact.

‘Dissolving’, whose lyrics give ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ its name, is a song of two halves. The first is awash with guitars, Bello’s vocals providing a melodic core. The guitars hold whispers of dissonance, with occasional tritone notes disrupting an otherwise euphonic atmosphere. A reminder that the band are determined to change their mood. The second half is big, drums and bass kicking in at the midway. Dvorak and Bello harmonise together until we’re left with Bello repeatedly chanting the words, ‘I’m dissolving’.

It’s notable that ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ is the only album by The World Is A Beautiful Place not to feature a successor to the shorter ‘Blank’ series. There is still one callback to their iconic album ‘Harmlessness’ – ‘December 4, 2024’, a spiritual sequel to that album’s single ‘January 10, 2014’. It’s here that we can maybe pick out the changes the band are going to. It’s darker, heavier. There’s a distinct note of dissonance that runs through this album. The math rock elements aren’t gone, but are a little more frantic. More anxious.

That seems to be the message The World Is A Beautiful Place are trying to send with this album. Previous offerings have crafted beautiful atmospheric music, but those atmospheres have been sealed. Insular. ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ is the band bringing the material world into their music, allowing it to twist it into something darker. It isn’t a departure – it’s a deliberate staining. The result is haunting.

WILL BRIGHT

The festival has been unveiling bands as part of a seven day advent calendar, announcing performances from Heilung, Pupil Slicer, ’68, Tokky Horror and Birds In Row for the 2023 line-up over the last few days. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die are the treat behind door number six, bringing their wonderful blend of atmospheric emo to ArcTanGent for the first time.

The Connecticut group were founded in 2009, establishing themselves as a unique voice in their genre with debut album ‘Whenever, If Ever’ in 2013, setting them apart from the pack and earning critical acclaim. Fast-forward to now and they’ve got a whole host of EP’s, splits and collaborative works under their belt as well as four full length records, with their latest release ‘Illusory Walls’ displaying their most ambitious set of songs to date. The band are returning to the UK next year for the first time in five years, and their set at ArcTanGent serve as the perfect book-end to their long-awaited return.

Keep an eye on ArcTanGent’s socials tomorrow for the seventh and final line-up reveal!

ArcTanGent will take place at Fernhill Farm on August 16th-20th 2023. Tickets are available now and can be purchased here.

Ridiculous name and online antics aside, TWIABP definitely take one thing seriously and that’s the music they create. ‘Always Foreign’ is an extremely elaborate record, and it’s clear that the band and their associates have toiled over every little detail. Opening with ‘I’ll Make Everything’, the guitars shimmer behind the call and response, choir-like vocals creating an atmosphere verging on post-rock before a trumpet solo breaks through. This track clocks in at just under two and a half minutes but sets the tone perfectly for the ambitious nature of what’s to come.

Tracks like ‘The Future’ and ‘Dillon and her Son’ showcase TWIABP’s ability to make upbeat, fun numbers with playful synth lines and hook-laden choruses, but their real strength lies in the grandiose. Perhaps the best example of this is ‘Marine Tigers’, a seven minute opus about racism and alienation that reflects on the experiences of vocalist David Bello’s father when he moved to America from Peurto Rico in the 1940s. The tangible, personal emotion in the lyrics is matched by the overwhelming crescendos; the trumpet yet again put to expert use to create a frenzied atmosphere, but the vocals remain calm and collected throughout. You’d be forgiven for thinking that emo as a genre deals exclusively with personal struggles but TWIABP are clearly socially aware and aren’t afraid to parade that fact lyrically on several tracks across the album.

Quite a few bands are currently enjoying success following the revival of ‘real’ emo, but if it is a fad then there’s no doubt whatsoever that TWIABP will outlast it. They’ve carved a niche in a genre that’s hard to get creative with and pushed boundaries without becoming directionless. It would be a crime for ‘Always Foreign’ not to boost the band’s profile, if nothing else so that they can more regularly play venues where they can all fit on the stage.

LIAM KNOWLES

The track has been released via Bandcamp, with all proceeds going to the ACLU.

Take a listen to ‘Body Without Organs’ below.

Stream and purchase the record via Bandcamp below.

The World Is A Beautiful Place And I’m Not Longer Afraid To Die frontman David Bello has released his new solo EP, ‘Tires’, via Man of 1000 Masks.

The record is available to stream and download via BandCamp.