Album review: Hands Like Houses – ATMOSPHERICS

Newly independent and marking their first LP with vocalist Josh Raven, Hands Like Houses did not come to play nice on ATMOSPHERICS. Though they didn’t originally intend to make such a beastly comeback when writing together, the music kept flowing into what naturally became this gigantic 16-track double-album.

The Aussie quintet have stripped away the typical album format for this release, with four sections – Tropo(sphere), Strato(sphere), Meso(sphere) and Thermo(sphere) – acting as shiny new portals into fresh creative spaces, where the band metaphorically float around, and let music occur naturally without pressure or a set narrative.

With this body of work being so full, towards the last two sections the overall sound at times grows little less exciting. That said, the Tropo and Strato sections in particular are packed full of belters. Better Before is a clear example of HLH bringing their A game in this way. It’s full and unforgiving, with phenomenal percussion cutting through the mix. On the other end of the scale, track Hollow sees the outfit teeter around overdriven electrics with breezy acoustic guitar making for a much more enchanting offering that explores numbness and mental health in a way that’s not stereotypically aggressive, but rather mimicking the trudging rhythms of a certain frame of mind.

On the whole, ATMOSPHERICS is a megalodon. To say that Hands Like Houses nearly hung up their hats indefinitely, respect is owed for such a gutsy return that rebels against the constraints and expectations that we put on bands to release music in a way that is more uniformed or bite size. It is a firm stance of independence, rooting them back into new, fertile soil for whatever may come next.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Too Close To Touch, Written By Wolves, Sleeping With Sirens

ATMOSPHERICS is out now via Civilians