Ride – This Is Not A Safe Place review

Rather than stop working and admire their achievement after the release of 2017’s Weather Diaries, Ride went almost straight back to work. It was a milestone not every long-split outfit achieves after reformation, but for the quartet there was never a sense of finality, more relief that it was out of the way.

This Is Not A Safe Place had you felt to make some more definitive statements, both for the band and their listeners – there are plenty of critics of heritage bands who accuse them of taking up the space emerging artists could exploit in an insanely crowded market. Their approach said as much, with all four members bringing ideas into sessions with retained producer Erol Alkan, whilst Andy Bell mused on darker subject matter inspired for instance by the Bataclan massace on Eternal Recurrence.

Despite a sonic backdrop inspired by the likes of The Stooges, Sonic Youth and Joy Division, This Is Not A Safe Place contains much by way of their archetypal keynotes – Future Love, Clouds of Saint Marie, Shadows Behind The Sun – but arguably works best on Jump Jet and the abrasive Kill Switch, both lusty affirmations of life where autopilot might’ve met expectations just as well.

It’s a record which proves that, even if it’s not safe, there’s no place like home.

You can read a full review here.