Déjà Vega return with their third album Another Version Of Ourselves, a
thrilling melting pot of influences combining to form their most
ambitious direct record to date and closest to capturing the raw energy
of their unmissable live shows whilst taking them down new sonic avenues.
Rainbows opens the album, perhaps a nod to Radiohead's In Rainbows which front
man Jack has referenced in recent interviews. Stylistically closer to previous
albums that parts of what's to come, it's a statement making opener with all
the aspects you'd expect from a Déjà Vega track - razor-sharp tight rhythm
section that locks in and allows Jack the space to work his guitar and synth
wizardry over the top of it as well as his always restless searching vocals.
You Only Like Me In Stars will be familiar to followers of the band, having
been introduced into the live set early in the genesis of the album and having
been released as the first single. Driven along at a relentless pace by fierce
drumming patterns, it ups the pace of the record over which Jack's vocal barks
out instructions to the beat.
Talk To Me is one of our favourites on the record, synths and drums dictate
the verses as Jack takes on the role of raconteur but outside of those the
song starts to grow wings and evolve into an electro-garage punk hybrid,
building on sonic repetition to draw the listener in and hold them awaiting an
explosion that never arrives but is no less impactful for that.
The album starts its more experimental journey with Can't Stop, a shimmering
throbbing synth, drums and guitar layered sparingly over the opening couple of
minutes as the song builds then stops dead then breaks out into a spiky
guitar-led section before vocals kick in stream of consciousness style around
three and a half minutes in. It then jumps between the two, building slowly
before finishing in a wild flurry of ferociously delivered words.
Crave is underpinned by a repetitive synth hook that comes in and out and
drums that pound out a simple but controlling beat. Listening to the album you
can visualize the passionate energy in Jack's face as you'd imagine him
spitting these lyrics out at a live show as the guitars kick in and they start
to experiment with the sound.
The duo of Nightmares and Kontakt 368 are where things take a turn.
Nightmares is underpinned by a repetitive electronic beat that gives the
song a menacing feel in line with the song’s title as Jack delivers vocals
that add to the sense of foreboding. Lifted by guitars that come in and out
before dropping back down, it defies traditional songwriting structures to
exist as a six-minute journey into the creative mindset of the trio, forever
restless and searching.
Kontakt 368 is a huge simmering seven-minute slab of instrumental, bar the
song’s title being spoken by Jack in the background in the last minute or
so, techno-leaning psychedelia that drives itself along under its own
momentum that sees Déjà Vega follow their artistic instincts rather than
their commercial ones. It’ll be loved by their growing fan base and is ripe
with possibilities in the live arena where they are at their most
formidable.
Techno Tom doesn’t live up to its title, but is probably one of the most
immediately accessible tracks on Another Version Of Ourselves, vocals buried
in a mass of guitars, synths and the omnipotent rhythm section before the
song soars gloriously at the breakdown.
The Importance Of Love will shock both long-term fans and those coming in at
this album. Stripped right back in a way you’ve never heard Déjà Vega
before, it’s a reflective song that sets Jack’s vocals centre stage over a
beautifully melodic tune that lifts off towards the end. It’s millions of
miles away from what’s gone on before on the record, a real surprise, but a
hugely pleasant one.
Can’t Wait For Another Life has them keeping the best track to last. A
chorus that simply repeats the song’s title, its verses are wrought with an
uncertain nervous claustrophobic tension before it veers off to a melodic
musical interlude punctuated by Jack’s soft “woo hoo”s before building to a
climax and a fitting finale to the album.
Another Version Of Ourselves is Deja Vega’s strongest body of work to date. Their intent is that you listen to it as one piece with each track going straight into
the next rather than fading in and out, an almost alien concept to the quick gratification three-minute pop song that seems to be what the industry and radio demand these days. Taking stated influences that range from Detroit techno, through Neu!, Radiohead and as The Wedding Present, what it might lack in the way of the
immediate singles its predecessors possessed, it more than makes up for by
painting a brighter, bolder and more expansive picture of the trio’s musical palette that makes them impossible to pigeonhole but also impossible to
divert your attention away from.
Déjà Vega are on Facebook and Twitter.
They play Manchester New Century Locker (November 7), Bristol The Croft (20), London The Grace (21) and Nottingham Bodega (December 4).
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