Change is afoot on
Hinds' fourth album,
VIVA HINDS. Not only did the group shrink down to the founding duo of
Carlotta Cosials and
Ana García Perrote but they also cast off the fancy finery of their third record, the modern pop-inspired
The Prettiest Curse, in favor of something more stripped down and loose. Not that they went back to their garage rock days of yore; they remain firmly in the pop landscape of the mid-2020s. The appearance of
Fontaines D.C.'s vocalist
Grian Chatten proves that, and so does the
Beck cameo on the album's poppiest track, "Boom Boom Back." Aside from that one moment of frivolity -- and the bouncy,
CHAI-inspired "Mala Vista" -- much of the album has a slightly darker, almost insistent appeal that feels built on equal amounts of fierce determination and breezy self-deprecation. The dual vocals have some bite as
Cosials and
Perrote shout, plead, sneer, and cajole in giddy unison. Their unvarnished humanity makes the record come alive whether the songs are chiming, melancholy, and bathed in reverb ("The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You"), bouncy and deceptively bright ("On My Own"), rollicking ("En Forma"), or bruised ("Superstar"). This is the most sonically varied album
Hinds have made, and it's nice to hear them painting outside the lines and trying out new things, especially when they drift away from the frolicsome approach they threatened to get stuck in. Tracks like "Superstar" and "The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You" have the kind of weight that many of their songs have lacked in the past, and it's good to hear. That they can balance these deeper songs neatly with well-played and arranged lighter fare like "Coffee" -- which has some stellar noise guitar gymnastics -- and "Bon Voyage" makes for a well-rounded album that's a joy to revisit.
Hinds pull off their reboot with daring and style, in the process making a record easily good enough to stand proudly alongside their best work. ~ Tim Sendra
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