After dealing with the many delays and misfortunes with the vinyl order with global distribution issues. We now have the new Album from Deja Vega.
Hard to define and undeniably talented, Manchester based Déjà Vega Present their sophomore album ‘Personal Hell’ an album which is unpredictable and exciting with numerous twists and turns over the eleven track LP.
Déjà Vega are vocalist and guitarist Jack Fearon, drummer Tom Webster and bassist Mike Newton and It’s been a while since I’ve heard an album where the band has given a spotlight to each member quite like Déjà Vega, with blistering drum rhythms, poetic lyricism, bold basslines and hypnotic synthesisers laced throughout. The result? a refreshingly daring record.
Balance is the key with this album, a great balance of short fiery tracks with relentless pace and power such as ‘Spitting Gas’ which lives up to its name and is pit-ready to ‘Slow And Steady’ which has a Radiohead feel to it and burns slowly, with a beautiful, melodic vocal and tasteful instrumentation. The versatility and creativity on this record is nothing short of spectacular, keeping the interest from track one.
The production and mixing on this album is stellar, giving each track excellent dynamics and adding a huge amount of personality and character.
The opener ‘Its All Gone Wrong’ takes influence from IDLES and Australian punks such as Bad//Dreems whilst bringing their own spin on that furious sound. The track is straight out of the top draw, with a wild chorus vocal from Fearon, which sees him at his most chaotic and frenzied and another track which is guaranteed to go wild in a live setting.
My main gripe with a lot of modern indie/punk has been the lack of dynamic and variation on a lot of albums, especially on debuts. This is where I have to commend this record, coming through with cuts like ‘All Words’, one of the most creative efforts on the record and features what has become a trademark psychedelic guitar sound and haunting vocal, before exploding into mayhem, superb songwriting.
Déjà Vega sound mature, confident and creative on ‘Personal Hell’ as they assert themselves as one of the most exciting alternative rock bands, not only in Manchester but the UK. The album is a true joy too, with band cohesion obvious and a real passion to be boundary-pushing creatives, I cant wait to see what the future has in store for this electrifying group.