School of Seven Bells are back and it’s all down to Brian Eno. Disconnect from Desire is a hybrid-beast of a record; nurturing their obsessive use of software with organic intentions to get cracking with their next album, SVIIB’s trial-and-error tactics couldn’t have worked better. So with the help of a newly built Hackintosh and Eno-Schmidt ‘Oblique Strategies’ cards for creative block and to name their album, SVIIB have stripped away their shortcomings for a clean, direct and well produced return. School of Seven Bells have found their sophomore identity, and guess what? It’s pop.

SVIIB’s pop-blend wreaks havoc throughout by conjuring up enough special effects loops to soundtrack a Lynch rework of The Neverending Story. ‘Windstorm’ breaks the surface first employing narrative lyrics of natural empowerment, returning to their lucid playground “When the fires burn from sky to ground/swing my weight around/begin the windstorm”. The twinned vocals of Alejandra and Claudia are more synched than ever, delivering unfaltering, united harmonies bringing Claudia’s vocal further to the limelight.

‘Heart is Strange’ and ‘Dust Devil’ raise SVIIB to rich and epic proportions, toasting their hard-earned and almost two year work on Disconnect From Desire. ‘Heart Is Strange’ rides forth galloping dominating synth and hints of Krautrock production, putting the guitar on the sideline for the vocal takeover of the twin pop hooks. The cavernous ‘Dust Devil’ descends into drum claps and hollow rolls before the key slamming electronics and eerie vibrato singing reverbs in lyrics “you don’t have to cruel”. Before the double synth assault becomes taxing, the arrival of heartfelt ‘I L U’ fits perfectly to the wavelength of its fans and record alike.  As tell-tale as the abbreviated title, the narrative about relationship closure relates using lyrics “I loved you” muffled almost to echo a guilty “I left you”  Whilst possibly the poppiest track off the album, it screams the SVIIB signature whirrs of sighing synth reminding listeners the trio haven't strayed too far from their psychedelic past.

Whether neurotic perfectionism or their conscious approach to the record, ‘Disconnect From Desire’ teases some tracks to begin in one genre and end in another. ‘Babelonia’ discards the pulsating laser intro into a guitar focus with a ferocious soundscape driven by wailing arpeggios, scaling verses and spoken lyrics of independence “she is the comfort she seeks” and ”leaving the heart with no one”. ‘Camerilla’ and ‘Jovianne’ follow a similar, provoking trail, raising expectations towards their brassier and shoegaze roots. Yet the hopeful chorals of the sisters, the languid guitar strums in ‘Jovianne’ and the continuous ethereal synth in ‘Camerilla’ drifts the listener towards a spiritual awakening.

Waving farewell with lasting electronic hooks in the bright ‘Bye, Bye Bye’ and the dazed outro ‘The Wait’  School of Seven Bells prove a somewhat natural triumph over the dreaded second album curse. - Gemma Dempster

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