‘Room On Fire’ sounds like a place where everything that defined post-punk and the late-eighties alternative sound comes together. Not so much the heavier, rock side of things, although here Fernando’s Eyes is certainly no stranger to bruising beats and relentless bass intensity, but rather the more interesting and creative end.
This first new release since last year’s Centre of the World feels almost like a mini symphony, an ever-evolving piece threaded with common moods, moves, and musical motifs.
Searing guitars run over a four-string rumble; blends of electro and organic beat patterns that perhaps owe something to Steven Morris crash out, and synths soar and sweep cinematically. A minute in, it all changes; the song pauses, collects its thoughts, and then that distinct and delicious baritone of the man himself joins the fray. And before the song concludes, it scales even loftier peaks, thanks in no small part to a shimmering saxophone as the icing on this sonic cake.
It’s a swirl of dream-pop textures and gothic shadow, shoegaze weight, and even, thanks to Lina Langendorf’s brief but unmissable saxophone conclusion, maybe a glimpse of what the New Romantic sound might have been had the Blitz Kids stuck to their guns and not gone commercial.
A glorious track that delivers both echoes of nostalgia for those old enough to remember and a glimpse of the future for today’s alternative set.
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