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Oct 21, 2022 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay

Sometimes, a break is as good as a rest, which is definitely the case with Thousand Yard Stare. Having split in 1993 after the release of second LP, Mappamundi, the band reformed 12 years later. Revitalized, rejuvenated and reinvigorated, the last seven years haven’t just been about making up for lost time. They’ve evidently demonstrated the theory that sometimes a retreat into the sunset and time to reflect can be the best way forwards to a brighter future, even if it might not have seemed so at the time.

If 2015 represented something of a groundhog year for Thousand Yard Stare’s next chapter, the ensuing years and subsequent output has proved they were anything but a spent force creatively. While 2017’s twin EPs DeepDreaming and StarGrazing set the scene admirably, the band’s long-awaited third album, 2020’s The Panglossian Momentum, was a triumph in itself. The sound of a band maturing without losing any of their past identity.

So, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that album number four, Earthanasia, picks up where its predecessor left off. If The Panglossian Momentum was originally intended to be Thousand Yard Stare’s swansong (Their words not ours!), and by all accounts it was. Then Earthanasia is the sound of a band rediscovering themselves, but without feeling the need or pressure to prove anything either.

Recorded with producer Callum Rafferty at his Raffer Studios in Kent last year, Earthanasia is a melting pot of sounds and ideas that doesn’t stick to any specific sonic template. Instead, there’s elements of Krautrock and shoegaze (“Brocken Spectre,” “Hivemind”), wistful melancholia (“Borrowed Time,” “Earthanasia”), upbeat guitar pop (“Isadora,” “Upping Sticks”), and arguably the finest six minutes of music Thousand Yard Stare have committed to tape since their reformation in the shape of the elegantly peerless “Esprit Du Corps”.

With the creative well overflowing right now, its anyone’s guess where the next installment might take them, but one thing’s for certain. Thousand Yard Stare’s second adventure is far from over just yet. (www.thousandyardstare.co.uk)

Author rating: 8/10