Blindness And Light Prove Subtlety And Melancholy Still Work On Anguished ‘Another Day’

Blindness and Light are from the North West of England, or as he refers to it in an interview with Illustrate magazine, “A heartland of indie music”. 

It's clear in listening to his latest release, the anguished ‘Another Day’, that the artist takes inspiration from many of the bands that hail from this hotbed of alternative art.  

Yet, a move in life has also inspired much of the writing in Blindness and Light’s new track. An island off the north coast of Wales is shrouded in mystery, stemming from the invasion of the British Isles by Rome some two millennia ago. Before the legions brought with them their foreign gods, much of what the Roman’s called Britannia was ruled by an ancient religious order called Druids, before they were eventually defeated on their final sanctuary – the island of Ynys Mon, now known in English as Anglesey. It is on this island that Blindness and Light set up a basic home recording studio and his time as an indie artist had arrived. 

The opening of ‘Another Day’ seems immediately to give a subtle nod to fellow Northwest band The 1975 as celestial synths are joined by pounding, steady drums and larger-than-life guitar chords in a manner not too dissimilar to the Wilmslow natives early hit ‘Robbers’. 

It’s with the vocal performance, however, that we see where Blindness and Light’s true heroes lie. With a delivery reminiscent of his self-confessed influence Ian McCulloch from 80s’ Liverpool cult classic band Echo and the Bunnymen, the singer wears his heart on his sleeve in the lyrics he uses. “I have lived outside of everything / But I can’t live outside of you” he strains, in one of the more poignant moments of the track, whilst his delivery of “Keep looking for a better day or just something new to do” is a melancholic masterpiece fit for Morrissey himself. 

The music on ‘Another Day’ continues in its lambastic manner as the song crescendos into a swell of distorted guitars and eery backing vocals. It’s amongst this cacophony of noise that the true beauty of the song comes to life, where depression and hopefulness are turned into hope as the singer states “I think I see a change, I think I feel a change, I think I need a change in me”. 

James Ogden 

Image: ‘Another Day’ Official Single Cover