With multiple appearances at Arctangent and a co-headline tour with Peach already behind them, Sans Froid have cemented themselves as one of the UK’s most exciting experimental acts. On their debut album Hello, Boil Brain the Bristol quartet dove deep into clashing, discordant keys and guitars while their follow-up Back Into The Womb flirts with more accessible, groovy sounds without losing any of their experimental grit.
While previously Sans Froid leaned heavily into disorienting noise, their sophomore album starts off sounding surprisingly straightforward. Opening track ‘Go On’ forms around a grooving, overdriven guitar line with frontwoman Aisling Trafford’s vocals being allowed to lead the band on their own without competing with the band’s usual layers of clashing guitars and keys, once the track does explode into a maximalist, jarring art-rock cacophony the impact is far more pronounced in contrast to its subtle beginnings. Although Sans Froid’s debut presented a gloriously eclectic mix of sounds, their follow-up Back Into The Womb elegantly mixes these dissonant noises into a more focused, direct rock structure.
Fear not fans of Sans Froid’s more avant-garde work, despite their second album sounding more accessible the Bristol quartet haven’t gone all pop. The track ‘Still Thinking’ stands out as especially strange with its timid guitar intro and lilting, folk inspired vocal melodies while the title track hits with a swirl of shoegazey textures before hard cutting into driving, fuzz-jazz fuelled art-rock. With their slightly more direct sound some fans may be concerned that Sans Froid are ready to sell out and start sounding like Coldplay, Back Into The Womb cements their place as one of the UK’s most vibrant experimental voices while still opening their sound up to new fans.
On Hello, Boil Brain vocalist Aisling Trafford spent a lot of time multi-tasking, violently stabbing at piano keys to create dense textures while carrying the band’s main melody with her voice, on Back Into The Womb Sans Froid’s focus shifts away from her keys as a lead instrument giving her the opportunity to pour more into her vocal delivery. ‘Of The Mother’ acts as a showcase of her vocal talent, elegantly transitioning from intimate pop crooning to powerful wailing whereas the album’s lead single ‘The Exploiter Of Art’ uses her voice as a rhythmic base to build the rest of the instruments around, allowing bassist Benjamin Harris to take the lead melody in the verses. While there are plenty of moments Trafford uses her keys to build up texture, Back Into The Womb sets her up as a far more dynamic frontwoman.
Compared to their debut album, Back Into The Womb allows Sans Froid to meet the audience half way, pushing their overwhelming cacophony of clashing noise into the background without losing any of their eclectic underground spirit. Both fans of the Bristol quartet’s work so far as well as those who prefer their art-rock a little more approachable are sure to have the new Sans Froid album at the top of their album of the year lists.