Dublin trio explore new depths of mystery and uneasiness on their excellent third album
Dublin trio Subplots build on their glacial enigma with this superlative third album. Patience is the key when exploring the mysterious depths of the work of Ross Chaney, Phil Boughton and Daryl Chaney, who are now ten years into their career as architects of minimalistic art rock.
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A Silent Phase is a rhythmically absorbing work, from the jazzy modulations of Unfurling to the vaporous Constitution Hill and the Alt-J indebted The Signal Drop.
The likes of Radiohead post OK Computer and Talk Talk are obvious touchstones too but there is something even more oblique and, indeed, bleak about Suplots’ slowly-paced and revelatory sound.
It rarely lifts its head out of a state of sullen ennui - it can also be overly studied - but Boughton’s falsetto, and the chiming guitars married with woodwind, horn arrangements and vintage snyths make this an immersive listen. A nervous tic of an album.
Alan Corr @corralan
