Traams – Personal Best review

For many bands being on hiatus means different things, from a sabbatical, an extended holiday or devoting time to solo projects. In the case of Traams singer Stu Hopkinson it meant not picking up an instrument at all, or even thinking much about music, since the trio finished touring Modern Dancing, their second album which was recorded in Leeds with Hookworms‘ MJ on production duties and released in 2015.

Not everybody took such a complete withdrawal however. Percussionist Adam Stock collected a range of synths – and the extended use of them on Personal Best is one of the features which most marks it out from it’s predecessor, with only two of the eight tracks featuring live drums. Another conscious departure is the presence of collaborators, from former Menace Beach vocalist Liza Violet to a rip-roaring piece of remote improv offered up by Protomartyr‘s Joe Casey.

Casey predictably stars on The Light At Night whilst Soffie Viemose of Danish quintet The Lowly helps transform The Sleeper into a warmly uplifting duet that belies the group’s complex, art-rock past. Tactile opener Sirens takes another leap away from that, but it’s the relentless pulse of Hallie – a welcome reminder of WH Lung‘s more psychedelic past – which thrills most. Whatever it meant, the last seven years has evidently been good to TRAAMS.

You can read a full review here.