Five albums into their career, Lancashire rock group Boston Manor are discovering new strengths as a creative group.
With the arrival of their fifth studio record Sundiver, the band has produced some of their most ambitious and cohesive work to date. Manoeuvring through a myriad sounds that hint at their earlier, heavier influences; while demonstrating a fresh approach to layered instrumentation and emotionally intelligent lyrics, Boston Manor stuck their necks out with this album.
Boston Manor – ‘HEAT ME UP’
And in return, the final product shows fans – new and old alike – that this is a band that, as vocalist Henry Cox jokes, “has some gas in the tank still!”
Wry humour aside, Boston Manor’s frontman is passionate about this album and more specifically, what it means for the band of best friends who have been creating art for over a decade together.
“It’s rare that the band still has its original members and all still really love each other,” he explains.
“I’m so grateful to them for everything and for being the people they are. We just truly enjoy spending time with one another. It’s such great fun. I think that is reflected in the album. I don’t think we’d be able to still be making music this far into our career if we didn’t get on so well.”
Releasing their debut album Be Nothing in 2016, Boston Manor have been unafraid of evolving their sound over the years – an evolution that has also reflected a change in culture with the alternative and heavy music scene internationally. With Sundiver, the album fits the wider Boston Manor catalogue perfectly; a touchstone moment for the group who have found home in the emo, pop-punk, grunge and post-hardcore communities along the way.
For Cox, labels don’t matter. He doesn’t mind how you perceive Boston Manor as a genre act, but the fact that they have cultivated a large fanbase, encouraging of the band’s vision and sonic journey? That’s an impact being made in real time.
“I don’t really know what’s in it for you as an artist, if you’re not [pushing it],” Cox says.
“Maybe people have a thing that they do really well, and they just love doing that; they get joy out of repeating the process. We like playing with different feelings and putting our take on things. That, for me, is a huge driving force behind why we are still doing this, however many years on.”
Sundiver arrives with intensity and fresh spirit born out of a series of new beginnings for the group. The record is an immersive listen, with Boston Manor pouring new perspectives on personal growth and the complexities of the human condition, into some crushing musical arrangements.
Produced by long-time collaborator Larry Hibbit, Boston Manor went into this process with more of a set vision than before. While much of the influence and lyrical inspiration has been born from a hopeful and optimistic perspective, Sundiver is an album that flourishes in crushing riffs and rhythms.
A masterful exercise in matching darker sonic textures, with a forward-thinking gaze to a brighter horizon.
“It does different things at different times,” Cox says of Sundiver as a full project. “We’re not always starting records with a very specific mission statement, sonically. On this one, we really were trying to achieve this sort of levity in mood and feeling, without making things sound happy.
It’s not necessarily a happy record, but it is a joyful record; it’s hard to differentiate the two, sonically. We were going for this blistering, white-hot sound; something that felt energetic and powerful, but not just being super major chord, happy clapping! That was a difficult balance to strike.”
Achieving this balance has led to a project that Cox says the band has been wholly proud of, to the point where they didn’t have any preferences on single releases early in the piece.
“We really haven’t had this with all of our albums, where I’ve come away from it loving it a year on, just as much as I did when we were making it,” he laughs. “I’m so happy with every song on there. We all are.”
To take a first spin with Sundiver, the urgency of the music is quick to leave impact. Vibrancy is felt throughout (‘Sliding Doors’, ‘HEAT ME UP’) while album touchstones like ‘Fornix’ and ‘Dissolve’ will, in time, stand out as some of Boston Manor’s best releases overall.
For Cox and his bandmates, replicating the energy captured in studio, live, has been an extremely organic and reaffirming part of the album process. Engaging with a fresh rhythm and building upon over a decade’s worth of known chemistry with this material, Boston Manor themselves have rediscovered their identity as a band.
And have redefined themselves for future records to come.
“It felt like we’d finally started to fit in the shoes that we’d been wearing for such a long time. I felt really confident playing the songs,” Cox remembers of the first shows that featured Sundiver material as part of the set list. “It was really rewarding, for that reason. Perhaps it didn’t come across from the outside the group, but it felt like we were having to justify ourselves, having transitioned from such a different sound.”
“I just feel now, playing the songs, that we are accepted as a band who has versatility; we’re not doing this to be weird, or as a flex, or because we don’t know who we are. All these songs, like ‘Horses In A Dream’ versus ‘Fornix’, are different but they all fit in the same canon quite comfortably. That was also one of the harder parts of making the record, having this consistency to it despite us playing with lots of different sounds. I don’t think that we’ve always achieved that on previous records, but I think we did on this one. That was something that was always at the forefront of our minds when we were making it.”
Cox is adamant that even while he doesn’t know what the next Boston Manor chapter sounds like, he knows that it won’t be a cut and paste version of Sundiver. To him, that is exciting – the unpredictability of where the craft and music is taking his band.
Reflecting on the careers of artists he respects, Cox finds comfort in knowing there is a pay off in being creatively ambitious; ultimately it can lead to the construction of a body of work that has legacy potential.
The way Boston Manor feels about Sundiver has reaffirmed that they are all on the same page.
“It confirmed a suspicion I’ve had for a while, which is that I don’t think that you don’t have to be beholden to any one thing. I think that’s okay,” Cox says.
“Whether it’s The Beatles or Prince, or David Bowie; you can have eras to an artist. Not every era might be for you, but it doesn’t negate the previous material that you’ve made. If you want to have longevity as an artist, which I do, you need to have a place to go. This unlocked a pathway for us that will allow us to keep doing this; to stop us from burning out and allow us to age into our music. This is where we’re at right now, and I’m really proud of it.”
Take ‘Sundiver’ for a spin below.
Further Reading
Boston Manor Release New Single And Music Video For ‘Sliding Doors’
The Amity Affliction Add Second Sydney Show To 2024 Australian Tour
The post Boston Manor: “If You Want To Have Longevity As An Artist…You Need A Place To Go” appeared first on Music Feeds.
