Having made a determined step further into traditional prog territory with 2022’s single-track, 20-minute concept mini-album Babel, Lesoir are perhaps keen to prevent any such labels sticking to them on Push Back The Horizon.
The Maastricht five-piece’s sixth album aims much more squarely for the arena rock jugular from the outset. They clearly mean business – they enlisted seasoned Oasis and Robert Plant producer John Cornfield as well as longtime Muse associate Paul Reeve to work on this record.
They surely help Under The Stars accelerate into a high-octane, wind-in-the-hair singalong, with Maartje Meessen’s plaintive tones sometimes taking on the timbre of an Annie Haslam or Maddy Prior. The title track and Fireflies have a booming, immersive swell to their sound, energised by stabs of Ingo Dassen’s metallic riffing.
With bombastic strings and choral accompaniment joining the throng, at times Push Back The Horizon veers close to symphonic metal territory – albeit without any attempt at soprano vocal gymnastics.
As Long As Your Girls Smile rides out on a thunderous Nightwish-style blast of turbocharged melancholy
But then just when a pace break is needed, You Are The World frames a wistful, moody lament with nervous, stuttering rhythms, before Meessen steps up the emotional ante again as yearning turns to something more passionate and angst-ridden.
Better still for those who prefer a less linear approach to songwriting, the startlingly titled The Drawer Of The Chest In The Corner Is Empty offers a vocal part-whispered, part-sung as Meessen sings, rather curiously of how ‘he places his hand on my inner security.’ It makes for a more dramatic, edge-of-the-seat experience that seems all the more effective when they once again burst into pomp-rock flame, and the guitars howl at the moon towards its conclusion.
Lesoir’s versatility isn’t in doubt by this point, but they can’t resist a Wagnerian crescendo. Hence the ruminative instrumental Aeon is an easier listen at first, hung around a summery guitar figure, before once again the storm clouds gather.
Their instinct is always to finish powerfully when possible. That’s reflected in the flow of the album as a whole, and the final trifecta of tracks. What Do You Want From Me’s agitated vocal builds in strength to come out fighting, as a sonic squall grows around it. Following that, As Long As Your Girls Smile rides out on a thunderous Nightwish-style blast of turbocharged melancholy.
Finally, the quiet/loud power ballad Why I Stand Here Now closes proceedings with a rush of emotional defiance. Broad strokes for the most part – but when they’re this skilfully applied, resistance is futile.
Push Back The Horizon is on sale now via V2.
