mbv (LP)

My Bloody Valentine, the quartet of Bilinda Butcher, Kevin Shields, Deb Googe and Colm Ó Cíosóig, are widely revered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential groups of the past forty years. During an era in which guitar bands denoted, at best, a retro-classicism, not only did My Bloody Valentine sound unlike any of their contemporaries, the band achieved the rare feat of sounding like the future.

Finally re-emerging in 2013 after two full decades in relative hiding, their third album m b v is by turns their most experimental record but also their most melodic and immediate; proof real of their unerring desire for re-invention. Continuing to push boundaries of both music and genre, m b v is an album of astonishing music, some of which could lay claim to being of a type never been made before. Otherworldly, intimate and a visceral listen, m b v is a startling and beautiful metamorphosis of what was known of the My Bloody Valentine sound, pushing the boundaries of genre unlike any other band. The album's closer, "Wonder 2" is an example of this, seeing Shields meld hypnotic guitar with drum'n'bass to astonishing result.