Opening with the rather odd ‘The Last Bell Ringing’ on which a sparse backing track accompanies a foreboding lyric, sung seemingly through clenched teeth by David Moran doing his best ‘Tom Waits’ and mouthing what can only be described as a ‘lazy Rap’. At 1.21 it’s an odd way for the Date to start their third full length album, but then when have the Date ever conformed to expectations?
It’s been a while since we last heard from The Date, so it’s odd that I feel like I’ve already heard half of The Date’s new album Master Date before. Of the 11 tracks here, or 10 discounting that opener we’ve already heard 4 before. ‘Ghost Notes’ and ‘Build Me a Bunker’ were part of the ‘Ghost Notes’ single back in March 2015, and ‘Looking Down’ with B-side ‘Take It Down’ were released all the way back in June 2014.
That leaves only six new tracks to get to grips with, or rather 5 if we exclude ‘Ghost Notes (reprise)’ which wouldn’t really be fair as it’s a great showcase for Mr Susanto’s not-inconsiderable guitar heroics. If you want to hear our thoughts on those ‘singles’ you can check them out on the site or on The Date’s own website.
Aside from the title track then, we’ve actually heard the first side of ‘Master Date’ before.
Sonically ‘Master Date’ explores similar garage blues territory to The Date’s previous releases – it’s quirky, it’s catchy and lyrically it’s meant to provoke thought, which we know is terribly unfashionable, but there you go.
Whilst previous singles ‘Ghost Notes’ and ‘Looking Down’ are still our highlights, third single ‘ Crossing Open Ground’ also resonates and has an openness and gentle simplicity that all of a sudden is set alight by Rob Susanto’s surgical yet emotional guitar breaks. The Blusey ‘Checking Out’ and boogie of ‘How Far (Is Too Far)’ are also well worth a closer look.
This might be The Date’s most ethereal and thought provoking offering to date.
