London Grammar - Californian Soil

Pitchfork 62

Read Hannah Jocelyn’s review of the album.

The Guardian 0

(Metal & Dust/Ministry of Sound)
The British trio stick to boilerplate emoting and bland imagery, but there are small sonic steps forward

Given the icy pace and prevailing mournfulness of London Grammar’s last album, Truth Is a Beautiful Thing, the British trio naming their third record Californian Soil might suggest they were warming up a bit. Not quite: a reluctance to relinquish their sonic crutches – heavily reverbed electric guitars, meandering melodies and restraint masquerading as reverence – and a lyrical propensity for gloominess means things haven’t thawed much.