The House of Love are back with a new summer single. “Clouds” immediately stands out as a heavier song than previous HoL releases, which defined psychedelic dreampop. The distorted, urgent guitar lines carry Guy Chadwick’s vocals on a more indie current, but there is nothing wrong with a little crowdsurfing. Just don’t call it shoegaze.
This is our first glimpse of the new HoL album, forthcoming from Cherry Red in September. A State of Grace will be the seventh studio album from the HoL, but it will not feature guitarist Terry Bickers. Bickers and Chadwick’s complicated working relationship is currently in an off-again phase, though they purport to remain friends. As Chadwick prepares for an American tour, a new line-up has been recruited and a new burst of distortion has been fed into the amps.