Iconoclast (Psalm of the Heretic) – West of House (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It perhaps speaks volumes that more and more music made today, rather than settling to be just entertainment, the soundtrack to a night out, or soothing background music, has something to say. And not just something, but something meaningful. It just reflects the increasing turmoil of our times, the dark clouds gathering on every horizon that more and more artists, and music makers in particular, are using their art to speak out, voices in the wilderness that are increasingly audible day by day.

That said, West of House has always been a band that understands what it means to have a platform. They know that they are perfectly placed to start a dialogue with millions of music fans and, thanks to modern technology, do so globally. But even for them, and certainly helped by the video imagery, this is a lot more direct than usual, which again can only be a sign of the times.

It is also, sonically, a bit of a step up, pushing those often post-punk influences into a snarling, hard rock realm, a powerful yet poignant sound for a powerful and poignant theme; tribal, staccato drums driving an energetic soundscape of abrasive guitars. But this is then tempered with smooth saxophones and softer vocals, and the ebb and flow between the two, the urgency and the understatement, the creatively jarring structures, and the drifting breakdowns, create a brilliant and unmissable dynamic.

Taken from the forthcoming Poems in the Dark album, it deals with the rising backlash against populist and right-wing policies worldwide. It explores the erosion of civil rights, whether relating to gender or race, xenophobic political policy, and the increase in the removal of people’s liberties.

It is also a reminder that this isn’t a new struggle; from Malcolm X to Tienaman Square, from Selma to Brexit, from Female Sufferage to Bus Boycotts, from Gandhi’s non-violence protest to the Trump backlash, these are just the latest chapters in a fight for freedom that is over a century old—new battles in an old and ongoing war.

“Iconoclast (Psalm of the Heretic) marks a new, harder-hitting, timely, and socially comment-driven chapter for the band, one that provides a soundtrack to a global pushback against populist and increasingly authoritarian powers-that-be. West of House’s music has always been fantastic, their themes compelling, but this single suggests that Poems in the Dark will raise their already high benchmark into even more rarefied creative climes.