Happy in the Hollow

by 

TOY

AlbumJan 25 / 201911 songs, 47m 44s88%
Neo-Psychedelia Indie Rock
Noteable

TOY have announced details of their new album, Happy In The Hollow, which is released on Friday January 25th 2019. Their fourth album, and their first for Tough Love, is unquestionably their most direct and propulsive album to date. Having recently released a limited 12” featuring ‘The Willo’ and ‘Energy’, the band have today shared the latest track from the album, ‘Sequence One’. Talking about the track, TOY say: "‘Sequence One’ is about running through a war zone of post apocalyptic proportions with your significant other. It was one of the first tracks we wrote when we started making Happy In The Hollow. We wrote it on the 5th April." Happy In The Hollow is entirely uncompromising: an atmospheric capturing of a state of mind that touches on post-punk, electronic dissonance, acid folk and Krautrock. Familiar qualities like metronomic rhythms, warping guitars, undulating synths and Tom’s gentle, reedy vocals are all in there, but so is a greater emphasis on melody, a wider scope, and a combining of the reassuring and the sinister that is as unnerving as it is captivating.' The sound has without doubt expanded — and grown more confident — in part because this is the first album for which TOY has become a self-sufficient five-person unit doing everything for themselves. “Each song was a blank canvas,” says Maxim. “Producers inevitably develop their own patterns over time, right down to certain drum sounds. We were starting from scratch and it felt very creative as a result. It’s an album we feel deeply connected to”. The vinyl pressing of the album is available in several different variants - the first, only available via the Tough Love webstore,is on 180gm vinyl includes a bonus 12" featuring remixes by Sonic Boom and Cosey Fanni Tutti, and is limited to 300 hand-numbered copies. The second, in conjunction with the Dinked indie store collective, is limited to 700 copies on ultra clear vinyl, features alternative artwork and a 'secret 7"'. Finally, a third version will be available exclusively from Rough Trade, and features an alternative 'secret 7"' on 'snow white' vinyl, limited to 200 copies.

16

8 / 10

TOY go it alone in the studio with their first self-produced album, resulting in a superb return to form

8.4 / 10

TOY at their most ambitious and confident.

With Clear Shot, TOY transformed their music by bringing it into hi-def focus.

On their first self-produced effort, and first on new label Tough Love Records, TOY continue to put their own unique spin on psychedelia but play it a bit safe.

7.5 / 10

The TOY story has been an eventful one since the band initially got together eight years ago.

6 / 10

Brighton band TOY continue to set their controls for the sun on their fourth album 'Happy In The Hollow'.

Album Reviews: TOY - Happy In The Hollow

8 / 10