EP review: Outlander - Sundowning/Unconditional

Too pretty sounding to be a doom band, and yet far too heavy to be shoegaze, Birmingham’s Outlander proudly bear the banner for the hybrid genre that is doomgaze. Following the success of 2019’s debut album The Valium Machine, they’ve been snapped up by Church Road Records for the release of this two-track EP. At only 18 minutes, it’s modest in length, but has a lot to say for itself.

The rhythm section creeps along in the background at glacial pace, while the kaleidoscopic guitars take centre stage with pedal-heavy riffs aplenty. The dreamlike quality of the barely-there vocals add a touch of melancholy, while moments of post-rock-influenced brevity add just the right amount of heaviness to the end result. It’s pretty, but there definitely isn’t enough of it, and right when it seems like the record is about to go somewhere it ends really abruptly, which feels enormously dissatisfying. Both songs on this EP take a little while to get to the point they’re trying to make, however, once there it’s a genuinely really enjoyable listen packed with interesting song writing – attention to detail is clearly one of Outlander’s strong suits.

A lot of bands doing ‘gaze’ often fall foul of being pretentious for the sake of it. However, this is the sort of music you can imagine closing your eyes and swaying to in a packed festival tent, while you try to maintain a grip on your lager. Perhaps this is a clever ploy to whet the appetite for album number two; it's lovely stuff, but will definitely leave you wondering where the rest of it is.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Alcest, Russian Circles, Pelican

Sundowning/Unconditional is out now via Church Road