OUGHT - Room Inside The World

Had they formed not ten, but even just five years before 2011, Ought would have met with a very different kind of success. When their debut LP "More Than Any Other Day" came out in 2014, a by-then-saturated wave revival scene — which by that point inspired more suspicion, if not outright irritation, than actual interest — kept their art-punk, indebted to Television, Wire and Feelies, from racking up the numbers it would legitimately have deserved a few years earlier. The dry, nervy guitars, Tim Darcy spilling out personal, tormented lyrics, a tight and agitated rhythm section, and above all a real knack for writing lean, direct songs, nonetheless allowed Ought to build up a solid cult following — so much so that some Canadian and American critics would go on to brand them belated indie idols.

The 2014/2015 period found Ought in a state of great prolificacy; in a very short span of time, the four musicians followed up their debut LP with not one but two successors — the EP "Once More With Feeling" and the LP "Sun Coming Down", still their peak to date — both released via Constellation. Given that pace, three years of silence felt like an eternity, but it's easily explained by the move to a new label, Merge, by Darcy's solo debut last year, and — something that only becomes clear once you've heard this "Room Inside The World" — by the band's desire to overhaul their sound.

After all, on "These Three Things" Tim sings it loud and clear: "If you're made of stone, then turn into clay". The transformation is evident right from the opening track, "Into The Sea": the voice searches for new depths and inflections, the guitars are clearer, the once-sharp edges have been smoothed by a gentle tide; only the tension remains the same as before. The little guitar arpeggio and the breezy tone — at least at the start — of "Disgraced In America" introduce an attention to melody never so pronounced in the past. The real novelties, though, arrive halfway through the tracklist, with a run of art-pop songs that three years ago would have seemed virtually unthinkable. "These Three Things" offers a verse built entirely on rubbery bass and little keyboard lines, before reaching its climax in a refined flourish of strings, courtesy of drummer-violinist Tim Keen. At the close of "Desire", Darcy's guttural vocal even seeks out the counterpoint of a soul-pop backing choir. Less surprising, but just as splendid, is the finale, entrusted to the murky, sensual "Alice", which closes the record amid cacophony and muezzin-like wails.

Still, this is merely a new form: from a lyrical standpoint, Ought's direction remains the same as ever, dominated by a suffering intimism. The album's title is also extremely evocative — and indeed telling — projecting a personal dimension, like that of a room, directly out into the world, with no filtering shield of a house around it.

More often than not, Ought's new guise disorients and wins you over; on the other, fortunately rare, occasions ("Brief Shield", "Pieces Wasted") it somewhat dulls an effectiveness that was always alive instead amid the rawness of their older records.

"Room Inside The World" is nonetheless a successful work, one that opens up a wide range of opportunities for the Montreal-based band and a future well worth keeping an eye on.

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26/02/2018