Thyla - Thyla Review
The album possesses more than a few moments that seem so familiar it’ll leave you scratching your head, certain you’ve heard it somewhere before.
Remember about half a decade ago when it seemed writing a catchy anthemic chorus was tantamount to career suicide. With new upcoming bands doing all they could to avoid the dreaded singalong chorus, fearful of appearing uncool and accidentally finding themselves on primetime radio, sandwiched somewhere between Coldplay and Phil Collins. Well, thankfully, these past few years have seen an upturn in appreciation for the humble chorus, which is more than evident on Thyla’s self-titled debut album, a record so full of serotonin-boosting anthems it should be available on the NHS.
Thyla is a bombastic orgy of shoegaze guitars, eighties pop melodies and indie rock sensibilities that sees the Brighton three-piece veer in a slightly poppier direction than their previous E.P releases, 2019’s What’s On Your Mind and 2020’s Everything At Once. Though a quick skim through their back catalogue reveals a band that has already hit the ground running, arriving as fully formed contenders, aiming to be Brighton’s most revered slice of ‘rock’ since the Graham Greene novel.
Opening track Amber Waits begins proceedings, emerging from the depths like a waking machine as luscious feedback-drenched guitars drag us into the vortex. Echo infused second track Breathe takes a while to get going but when it does it’s a pleasant enough affair, though not one of the strongest songs on the album.
The imaginatively entitled 3, begins with shades of Joy Division, but soon dispels any notion of post-punk empathy when it launches into the kind of uplifting melody that is largely absent from the Ian Curtis songbook. By the 2:40 mark, as the drums clatter around Millie Duthie’s sun drenched vocals, Thyla have you firmly in the palm of their hands.
Flush starts off a little too saccharine sweet but like many songs on Thyla it beholds the kind of roof-raising chorus that most bands spend their entire careers striving for. As the song progresses everything starts to make more sense and you feel a bit bad you ever doubted them.
Unfortunately, next track, Gum, is a mostly forgettable generic rocker, all the elements are in place but none of them are that great. It tries to save itself with a quirky ending but it remains the albums most skippable track. It’s not bad per se, it just ventures a little too close to B-side territory.
Echo For Ingrid is a much more interesting affair, distorted bass-lines and hypnotic vocals lead us into another rousing melody, offset by galvanic guitars. It’s an album highpoint before we’ve even reached the chorus.
Kin is another favourite that’ll have you reaching for the hairbrush mic in an eighties teen movie montage kind of way. The kind of song that makes you want to bunk off school and steal your parent’s Ferrari. You can almost feel the wind in your hair. Kin gives way to interlude track Imbude (Interlude). Calling it an interlude does the song a disservice. Its demo’esque production enhances the song and gives you a glimpse into a more intimate and mature sounding Thyla that ultimately becomes a standout moment.
Kinetic drums and commanding bass-lines mark the arrival of Making My Way Through The Skyline, which somehow manages to skirt between a forgotten eighties classic and a Taylor Swift chart botherer. Dandelion moves us sharply into unadulterated Kate Bush territory. A thumping bass-line holds court with a tsunami of guitars before, you guessed it, another fist-pumping chorus.
Finally, Rabbit Hole does what all great album closers should do and ups the ante to even more epic proportions before bowing out graciously.
Thyla might be a little too pop for some, a little too rock for others and admittedly there’s a lot here that would fall flat on its face if they didn’t know their way around a melody as well as they do. The album possesses more than a few moments that seem so familiar it’ll leave you scratching your head, certain you’ve heard it somewhere before. It’s a neat trick that’s usually reserved for bands that go on to bigger and better things.
Thyla’s first album is a heady triumph of optimistic musicality and crowd-pleasing choruses that leaves you salivating at the prospect of what they’ll do next. They’ve already set the bar pretty high.
Long live the chorus.