Secret Shine - the beginning and the end

The great thing about Secret Shine is that despite being best known as a Sarah band they've now released twice as many albums since the demise of Sarah than they had before (ok they released plenty of singles/EPs too lets not split hairs), in fact this is their second album since they reformed in the 2000s. Overall this is an accomplished and mature album.

Secret Shine have evolved their sound away from the shoegazey fuzzpop noise of their Temporal and All of the stars (their previous two albums of course) days a bit which maybe threw me a bit at first (and maybe made me a little disappointed as i am just a sucker for waves of poppy feedback.) Of course there is plenty of noise on show here, just a bit different and harder. "In between" still has all the elements, raging guitars, male and female vocal interplay and driving melodies. Other songs though add more electronics and a variety of sonic forms. Sometimes i did find it a bit shrill through not as infused with pop beauty as earlier work.

Some of the songs remind me of New Order for some reason even though the overall sound is very different. "Hole in your heart" is my favourite song here, there is probably no surprise that it is one of the songs closest to their classic sound. You might think i am on a bit of a downer with this album, actually no i really like it but it couldn't match my expectations but thats my fault not Secret Shine. This is an album that isn't as immediate as some of their earlier stuff but there is more substance. It'll last longer in your hearts, this is by no means the end.