The Herd - Future Shade

The Herd have released new album Future Shade, their fifth proper full length and are promptly touring Australia. The Herd’s last release Summerland was in 2008, and for fans, the last three years of waiting have been rather excruciating. The eager anticipation of the avid listener; I pushed Future Shade into my computer to get it all cranking and I felt my palms getting sweaty.

The synths came out big, rolling and sparkly and confusion started to set in. Where was the live instrument tracking or the dub? Where were the cuts and the political intro? Thankfully, Jane Tyrell stepped in by half a minute. Now rolling smoothly, the intro track possessed a nice soulful, sultry tone once the synths were pushed into the background. Ozi Battla proceeded to smash the beat for a while, the last line of his verse referring old track 77%. At this point I was pumped and all seemed good in the world.

That was until the chorus hit and Jane was pushed to the back of the mix, the drums tightened up and lost any sense of boom bap and someone started shouting random words at the end of the hook with a few tonnes of reverb. Through the beat change-up the tonality of the track changes and the dynamic shifts completely. Previously driven by the effective delivery of Jane Tyrell’s monster croon female vocals, the boys have decided to step in and try to take over singing duties. This effectively outlines the internal conflict I found listening to the album as a whole; these really nice, smooth sounding verses and Jane Tyrell’s amazing vocals are basically at loggerheads with these crazy breakdowns, major key chorus lines and over modulated voice harmonization. It’s like listening to an eclectic, globally inspired hip hop group shouting through a pop convertor.

Nowhere is it more prevalent than on second track, A Thousand Lives. At track inset, the beat comes in crisp with a playful little piano line leaving it slightly on the pop side of the equation but still incredibly dope, tight and bouncy. Urthboy steps in and unleashes the beast with some epic play on words involving Coltrane and coal trains. I love the opening verse and all rapping on the track, love the beat and I love it when they finally let Jane Tyrell sing, but this is undermined by my disdain for the harmonized male vocals, the chorus in general, the breakdowns and the unrealistic and rather blatant key changes. Thankfully, many of the tracks on the album are more a testament to the old sound than the new direction. Market Forces, Salary Cap, The Sum Of It All and Red Queen Theory are all on par with my favourite Elefant Tracks. Market Forces particularly has got me excited for the new production techniques the band are bringing to the table. Ozi Battla’s voice sound's amazing in the hook and the track is a testament to everything the Herd do right as a band. Urthboy is on point, on tone and I love this track; it’s a perfect mix of variety, punch, harmony with a great choice of instrumentation and percussion.

To wrap up a rather contentious review, I understand that the Herd are a multi-talented bunch and I accept that there’s always going to be some vocal dubbing and use of different production elements in their music. In fact, I love it on old tracks, especially comparing personal favourites like Under Pressure, King Is Dead and States of Transit. There’s nothing wrong with a pop sound on a song or trying to change the style of your music on an album, but previously these stylistic elements were underpinned by the live band, dub sounds, big basslines and cuts; the vocals always seemed to work around the music and everything worked in harmony and felt right in the mix.

In contrast - the album is already going quite well on the iTunes charts and the radio has picked up the major singles already. This is all in accord with the bands high regard and standing in the industry. The new sound may actually appeal to more new fans; maybe that’s point. However, dedicated fans of the band may find the new direction and the new production values hard to take; you can give me live instruments and an abundance of cuts over pop-synth and voice modulation any day of the week.

The Herd on Pulse