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Jul 6, 2011There's no fault to be found with Skying--truly, every song here hits its mark, and while The Horrors are evidently a band happy to change its spots from record to record (and steal a few licks, too), only the most ungracious of observers could deny that they've now crafted two of the finest British albums of recent years.
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Jul 29, 2011Every number attempts something at least a little differently, and succeeds for the most part.
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Jul 8, 2011Gone is the Primary Colours influences of Portishead's Geoff Barrow, or the punchy impatience of Strange House, and in that place stands an intellectually collective five-piece, fully immersed in the confidence of their own astonishing abilities.
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Jul 6, 2011Skying feels like a watershed of sorts for the band, because if they now want to be seen as more than creators of masterful records, the whole package will need to reflect that brilliance and artistry.
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Aug 9, 2011Taken in its full, cumulative glory, Skying ultimately dazzles, musically varied but singular in its ambition.
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Jul 19, 2011For the most part, it's like a time-travel expedition back to when My Bloody Valentine ruled the land of college dorms everywhere - and pretty in pink was the way to be.
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Jul 15, 2011While Skying is not as large a leap forward as Strange House to Primary Colours was, it's still the work of a band firing on all cylinders, and an exceptional offering from a group that, out of nowhere, is quickly becoming one of the most exciting young acts around.
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Aug 9, 2011Skying boasts countless vague allusions to waking up, seeing things, rain, and/or the ocean.
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MojoNov 22, 2011The Horrors manage to balance vinyl excavation with experimentation and a huge dollop of pop magnificently. [Aug. 2011, p. 90]
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Aug 15, 2011If Primary Colours still left any doubt, Skying makes it certain that The Horrors have moved on from the shadow of the (unfortunate) title of being NME darlings and into a realm where their future releases become something to mark on the calendar.
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Aug 8, 2011Regardless of where they end up next, the Horrors have already traveled much further than most listeners would have imagined.
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Aug 8, 2011While in some sense these tracks are truer to the band's past than Skying's more formally ambitious cuts, that only convinces me that the Horror's biggest leaps forward are the ones in which they follow other musician's great ideas to new places.
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Q MagazineJul 28, 2011There are meandering moments on Skying--closer Oceans Burning's day-trip into prog palls after a while--but it continues The Horrors' fast-forward evolution from their dark larval form into lepidopterist's delight. [Aug 2011, p.110]
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Jul 26, 2011The songs on Skying are dense, towering, and occasionally overstuffed.
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UncutJul 19, 2011Skying, The Horrors' third, again brilliantly confounds expectations. [Aug 2011, p.76]
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Jul 12, 2011With Skying, The Horrors continue to explore familiar territory whilst refining their idiosyncratic slant like proficient tastemakers.
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Jul 11, 2011This is an album that's ostentatiously overloaded on melody, and on all-round sonic luxury. This is the one.
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Jul 8, 2011Whether The Horrors will willingly pursue that same trajectory to its logical conclusion seems doubtful, but for now Skying finds them breaking free of old bindings, eyes set on the wild blue yonder.
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Jul 7, 2011Such shorthand descriptions are hard to avoid entirely, and music buffs might still want to play spot the influence with Skying--one reviewer detected seven in the opening song alone--but that would undersell this marvellous record, which should be every bit as exciting to a listener who knows none of those reference points.
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Jul 6, 2011Skying is very much a record of polar extremes boshed into close proximity. Withdrawn and welcoming; subtly bold; gently hyperactive.
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Jul 6, 2011If all you can see is a tangle of influences then you're standing too close to the picture, and when Skying's visions come into focus, it not only reaffirms that Primary Colours was far from a fluke, but that they could go so much further.
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Aug 15, 2011Skying does for early '80s psychedelic Brit-rock what Primary Colours did for post-punk, and both are as satisfying with such goals as one can imagine. Can their '90s Seattle grunge tribute be far behind?
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Jul 25, 2011Whether a calculated retreat or just a natural maturation, the Horrors have found a sound more content with background and atmosphere, and it suits them nicely.
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Aug 8, 2011Skying is the work of a band that's living up to the hype, just after the fact. And considering the trajectory that Skying shows they're on, maybe the Horrors won't just ultimately match the expectations of them, but maybe top them.
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Jul 6, 2011Skying lacks the urgency of their raucous goth-punk debut Strange House, but the broadly hooky single "Still Life" could fill an arena nicely, and the band actually sound interested enough to entertain the possibility.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 44 out of 50
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Mixed: 3 out of 50
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Negative: 3 out of 50
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Aug 20, 2011
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Aug 9, 2011
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May 24, 2013