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Jan 28, 2019 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay

If 2019 is meant to be the year of the concept album then Stephen Lawrie has suitably nailed it here. Exploding Head Syndrome is Lawrie’s eleventh studio LP fronting The Telescopes and as with every other record he’s put his name to, is every bit as unpredictable as it is audacious.

The album is named after a phenomenon also known as snapping of the brain, which is said to be a condition where a person “experiences unreal noises.” Exploding Head Syndrome takes the listener on a transcendental journey through sonic experiments doused in melody, yet often oscillated to the point of excision.

While its predecessors Stone Tape and As Light Return offered differing viewpoints to The Telescopes’ aural make up from opposite ends of the musical spectrum, Exploding Head Syndrome follows a set pattern, both sonically and structurally.

Conceived for the most part as a solo project, Lawrie’s vision becomes clear from the outset. Vocally inaudible at times, it’s the fractured delivery and haunting musical accompaniment that makes this record flow incisively from start to finish. Musically not that dissimilar to Pete Kember’s work as E.A.R. or Randall Nieman’s Fuxa, it’s a far cry from The Telescopes’ noisier excursions and for all its sinister overtones, actually proves quite a soothing listen in the right context. (www.thetelescopes.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10