(2023) Saccades - Land of the Hearth


Review:
Saccades, AKA Nicholas Wood – one half of The KVB – returns with his new album Land of the Hearth, releasing on exciting new imprint Old World – New World Recordings. In 2017, Wood unveiled the Saccades project with an eponymous debut album; a record which saw the KVB’s gloomy atmospherics and glacial walls-of-sound swapped out for stripped-back psychedelic guitars. The follow-up to that debut, Flowing Fades, landed in April 2021. Quoting cult TV presenter and writer Jonathan Meades, Saccades new album title Land of the Hearth might initially evoke the image of a fireplace shop on the Holloway Road. But on listening, it couldn’t be further from those drab surrounds. The washed out vocals and shimmering synths of album opener and current single ‘Nearly Dreaming’ gives serious sun-bleached holiday by the pool with a cocktail energy. The drums that ripple beneath the whole record are unequivocally Balearic-inspired. It’s an interesting – and largely elevated – take on what could otherwise be a fairly straightforward psych pop record. An album stand out is ‘Some Regrets’ with its propulsive percussion elements underpinning some neat bass work and languorous synth stabs. Elsewhere, ‘New Star Line’ revels in squelchy synths whilst the titular track is a tingly instrumental and the playful drums on ‘Neighbour’s Pool’ inject an Italo-disco vigour to proceedings. Overall, ‘Land of the Hearth’ breaks new ground by forging disparate styles together. The whole album clings steadfastly to one mood, and whilst that focus is admirable – and presumably purposeful – it does run the risk of losing the listener’s attention. But if it catches you in the right mood, it’s an enjoyable listen that washes over you without demanding anything in return. Just like a lovely poolside holiday. — clashmusic.com


 


Track List:
01 - Nearly Dreaming
02 - One Day Soon
03 - Cross Street
04 - Neighbours Pool
05 - Some Regrets
06 - New Star Line
07 - Land of the Hearth
08 - Faint Echoes
09 - Little Whites
10 - Dowsing
11 - Solstice


Media Report:
Genre: dream-pop, synth-pop
Country: Manchester, UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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