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Between the Senses rests with honesty and a tenderness similar to the likes of the Verve, but without pretense.
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Alternative PressBetween The Senses follows in the hallowed Brit-rock tradition of trembling vocals, chiming midtempo guitars and delicate lyrical sensibilities. [Oct 2002, p.80]
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BlenderMost of the tracks don't quite rise above their obvious influences, Radiohead and U2. [#10, p.118]
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Like a new friend who turns out to be a bit of a bore when you let them dominate the conversation, repeat listenings reveal an album bravely attempting to be a monumental statement on the state of life and love but falls short.
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Combining the Verve's soul-searching themes with Radiohead's whisper-to-a-scream dynamics, Haven has come up with a weighty debut stocked with tender ballads, beautiful acoustic passages and several potential anthems.
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Haven's one weakness is their failure to ever pick up the pace or well, y'know, really rock; like Coldplay's two agreeable, unhurried albums, there's a sort of same-y-ness throughout Between The Senses' 12 lullabies.
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MojoSome of the most powerfully surging melodies from a British band since the second Travis album. [March 2002, p.114]
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The music here might be gimmick-free, but it's imbued with a dark sense of confidence.
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this is pretty much all good stuff. So why does it feel like there's something missing? Haven's problem is their chosen genre - epic, ball busting indie, guitars that jangle, then jangle harder, vocals that ride melody like diseases might pterodactyls.
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By the end, the album feels too long, with too many tunes trying and failing to make a unique impression.... At its best moments, though, Between the Senses is simply and unnervingly beautiful.
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A few too many of these songs follow an all-too-familiar formula -- slow-burning introduction building to a crashing finale -- but on Still Tonight, Lately and last year's single Til The End, the bluster melts away to reveal Haven's passionately beating heart.
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This record is dull, predictable aural soup, and dullness in music should be punishable by death.
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UncutVery pretty but as predictable as Haven's guaranteed elevation to the Indie Premiership before the summer's through. [Feb 2002, p.118]