HEALTH - Get Color

Behold, the second album from the poster children of “The Smell Scene”. HEALTH have definitely matured musically on this outing and the overall effect is a far more coherent offering. This makes me happy, as some aspects of HEALTH’s 2007 self titled debut scared me. Soundbites of what seem to be Lightning Bolt battling Godzilla are just somewhat unnerving.

The album begins in characteristic style with In Heat. Pounding drums, explosions of noise and ethereal, almost hidden vocals, pummel your face from the off. Blast beats and feedback occasionally permeate the soundscape. 'In Heat' leads seamlessly into the albums “Lead Single” (ha), Die Slow, sounding like the bastard lovechild of Yourcodenameis:Milo and HEALTH’s 2008 remix album (HEALTH//DISCO). The use of (albeit bleak) electronic elements slips effortlessly within the noise.

Track 3, Nice Girls, is saturated with fuzz, tribal drums and droning chords. Scary beauty...enough said. The childlike lamenting vocals in Before Tigers float over droning guitars and piercing flashes of synth, evoking memories of Fuck Buttons and THAT SCENE from The Others. Severin starts with the same ferocity and sporadic blasts of white noise that so scared me about HEALTH’s debut.

Closing track In Violet has a slight Fuck Buttons/Holy Fuck groove to it, with metallic synth screaming throughout, but with the addition of dreamy, almost Kate Bush-esque, vocals to the mix, the whole piece is given a whole new dimension. The whole song is like Kraftwerk...but evil.

Get Colour is a true achievement, and one that cements them as one of the most exciting independent bands around today. At times its ferocity reaches an almost painful, ear bleeding high, but at the same time still somehow manages to maintain a childlike innocence. I look forward to seeing HEALTH tour this album, as I can only imagine the intensity will increase exponentially.

Listen now on Spotify

Andy