Album Review: Mazes – Better Ghosts
Following up on their second album, February’s Ores & Minerals, Manchester trio Mazes are back earlier than expected with a guitar-laden ten-track mini LP Better Ghosts.
Not quite a full album but certainly meatier than an EP, the release is perhaps a taste of what is to come from the band who have packed in a number of unheard songs alongside new versions of previous material.
Mazes are traditionally a band with a certain rawness to their sound as gravelly guitars are set against drawling vocals creating the kind of stripped-back indie that has been short on the ground in recent years.
Whilst there isn’t much depth to the band’s compositions, there clearly isn’t a need for beefed out arrangements when it comes down to it. The DIY nature is their appeal with the low key but effective marriage of guitars and drums speaking volumes.
Better Ghosts opens with a darkish intro that gives way to proper opener ‘Hayfever Wristband’: an upbeat shouty number with a simple catchy riff and a chip on its shoulder. It’s angsty but not enough to make it formidable.
The manic sound of it is taken down a notch in next track ‘Cicada’ as those charged guitar hooks melt into a downbeat strum accompanied by the sounds of real grasshoppers. Experimental noises are apparent throughout, making this short one-minute track feel slightly unfinished in places, although this could ultimately be the stripped back sound Mazes are toying with.
In keeping with the variation of tracks, ‘Donovan’ is the game changing link to the sixties sounding portion of the LP. Here, dynamics alter as psychedelic qualities are employed in the band’s musical and vocal expression, although the guitar heavy stamp of Mazes is still prevalent away from the punkier elements shown in the album’s opening section.
Repetitive hooks make ‘Higgs Boson’ a promising number that feels much fuller than previous tracks with clever spurs of melody tying the sound together in way not seen much elsewhere here.
‘Notes Between F & E’ is cut from a similar cloth although with some recurring elements of experimenting apparent in the backgound. A meditative chant-like chorus gives a hypnotic quality that fades into an obscure ending where unidentifiable crowd noise can be heard echoing around the space.
After the intricate bars of ‘Organ Harvest’, Mazes treat us to a charged instrumental in ‘Ephemera’ that comes out of nowhere. Drone-heavy and unexpected, it is a slightly bizarre bridge into the laidback approach adopted in ‘Sandgrown’, where the drumbeat keeps it on track with a heavier bass line that adds a warm dimension to the generous guitar parts.
Better Ghosts certainly seems to have proven that Mazes are capable of mixing up an extended body of work with fresh discoveries and clever thinking on every track. The trio are clearly still experimenting with their sound but Better Ghosts is a welcoming addition to that evolution.
– Sarah Joy
Better Ghosts is out now via FatCat Records
