ALBUM REVIEW: Kutosis 'Dream It Away'

With their highly-acclaimed debut album, ‘Fanatical Love’, being nominated for the Welsh Music Prize in 2012, fuzz-rock three-piece, Kutosis, have been branded ‘one of the best new bands in Britain’. Following in the footsteps of their first album, which also secured them a slot on the prestigious BBC Introducing stage at Reading + Leeds Festivals, the band are back and making waves with their game-changing, brand-new album ‘Dream It Away’.

The opening track for any album is the ultimate make-or-break moment; it can either be monstrously compelling or tragically and painfully dull. Featuring a whirlwind of pounding, fuzzy-indie guitars and hazy shoegaze-pop-like vocals, ‘This Avalanche Is’ – the gigantic opening track of ‘Dream It Away’ – is an immediate highlight of the album, hooking the listener in from the onset.

Contrasting tracks ‘Old Judas’, a surf-pop number which could have easily have slid from B-Town, and ‘Horizons’, an edgier, heavier insight into Kutosis, both add unique flair and innovation to the already dominant sound of the Welsh three-piece. These two divergent tracks juxtapose again with the eerie, tension-filled ‘Something In The River’, making Kutosis’ experimental sounda definite one to watch (listen to).

Although the majority of ‘Dream It Away’ resembles an adrenaline-fuelled free-running experience, a subtle hint of summer oozes through the cracks on ‘Crystal Beach’. If you’ve found yourself already pondering which song will soundtrack 2014’s summer, then look no further than the lulling sound of the surf-guitar riffs on ‘Crystal Beach’ – this stand-out track is undoubtedly the definitive moment of Kutosis’ triumphant second record.

On this breath-taking album we’ve seen: rising tension, fuzzy-rock, indie-rock and a delicate JAWS-like surf-pop sound. The penultimate track of ‘Dream It Away’, ‘Fear Of Flying’, manages to combine and blend these components into one, stunning sound. However, crowning this combination is the sweeping shoegaze influence, brought to the surface through the gripping cloudy vocal performance. The concoction that makes up ‘Fear Of Flying’ sends physical shock-waves pulsing across the body; the last thing you want is for this euphoric moment to end.

The scheduled release for ‘Dream It Away’ may have been put back until June 30^thdue to vinyl pressing problems but, for an album this brilliant, an extended waiting period will only increase anticipation. The sheer sophistication that radiates from Kutosis makes them, and their phenomenal second album, the ones to watch and wait for. As the saying goes – good things come to those who wait.

Ella Scott