Reaching its ten-year milestone on the 2nd of February, m b v is put under inspection by Natalie Howarth to see whether it stands the test of time.
Pioneers of the shoegaze genre, the Anglo-Irish rock band My Bloody Valentine released their eponymous album m b v on 2nd February 2013. A 9-track album of dream-pop experimentation and intrigue, the album took years to produce following the band’s hiatus and rumours of the band’s break-up; wrapped up in production complications, is this album a timeless alt-rock classic?
The Anglo-Irish band’s long-awaited return following Loveless released in 1991, often viewed as their magnus opus and one of the most successful albums of the shoegaze/dream-pop genre, m b v was a highly anticipated album 10 years ago upon its release. With many production complications occurring alongside the long-term recording of this album that resulted to their label’s close call with bankruptcy, Kevin Shield’s received a lot of scrutiny from his fans, including the issuing of false promises of new albums.
Starting off strong with their first track titled she found now, it is in true My Bloody Valentine fashion with their very minimal and repeated lyricism, enabling a focus on the distorted guitars and the song’s textures. It is quite a slow-burner song and often interpreted as a reflection of the immediacy of life and of love, setting the tone for what the album is all about. The following track only tomorrow, a personal favourite from the album, exhibits the band’s success in combining the androgynous vocals and scintillating synths: like most of the songs on the album, this song is energetic yet has an air of melancholia.
The ethereal lyricism of each track on the album is bare and obscure, unlike their previous music, especially with Loveless. The omission of lyrics for m b v perhaps enables the album to achieve a dreampop quality and portrays is fantastical essence through the modes of experimentation and unorthodox production methods. Their engagement with noise pop, dreampop, experimental rock permeates their songs so much that lyrics serve little purpose to their music, a distinctive quality to their work as a collective.
The climactic track wonder 2 finalises the album with an explosive exhibition of their pre-eminent sound. This is a unique track on the album that is immersive and captivating as a final song with a heavy drum and guitar sequence before fading out and ending. After decades without release of any music, you would have imagined this would have been a longer album, however, at 46 minutes and 36 seconds, this album remains a quintessential shoegaze album ten years on.
An inspiration to other artists within the shoegaze genre and beyond its periphery, (such as The Smashing Pumpkins who allegedly copied some of their works), My Bloody Valentine’s m b v is an album that cannot be skipped. It is truly a testament to the band’s artistic vision and feels like a conclusive piece of their past success in the industry, no matter how many times Shields promises a new album for the new year!
Natalie Howarth
Edited by Roxann Yus
Cover image and in-article image courtesy of My Blood Valentine via Facebook. In-article image taken by Angus Cameron.
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