Boston Manor releases 'Datura', out now
By: Natalia Pfeiffer
Following their 2021 EP Boston Manor makes a return with Datura, an seven track album that was confirmed by the band to be a two part concept work, with the second project yet to be announced in a further capacity. Boston Manor is made up of Henry Cox (Vovals), Mike Cunniff (Guitar), Ash Wilson (Guitar), Dan Cunniff (Bass), Jordan Pugh (Drums).
Boston Manor is a band that continuously evolves their sound ever so slightly from project to project. Just last year in the album titled Desperate Time, Desperate Pleasures, the band took on a harder persona, even dipping into heavier screamo-esc vocals contrasting to Lead vocalist Henry Cox’s typically warm, recognizable vocals that also appear throughout. With Datura it seems that the band has fallen fond of a more sultry haunting sound, which suits them very well.
Opening the album is the title track Datura (Dusk). The song serves as a subtle crescendo into the project's first truly dynamic track, Floodlights on the Square. Going into this second track the band kicks the weight of their layered guitar riffs up a notch, yet they still manage to blend all other instrument patterns and vocals harmoniously without any one element taking control sonically. This is an interesting dynamic within the songs of Datura as the album shares a lot of themes of losing control of your life and not feeling secure in your skin.
Foxglove, the first single that started the anticipation leading up to the release of Datura, is an angrier number. This track has a heavier punch than the previous of Datura and it can easily be felt in the breathiness of Cox’s voice heard under the waves of pulsing guitar chords from Mike Cunniff and Ash Wilson. Going straight into Passenger, the band kicks up the tempo, supplying fans with the perfect song to scream along to in a concert setting. Crocus leans more on Cox as his vocals take center stage over a quieter more cyber punk rock instrumental.
The second to last track on the album is surprisingly solely an instrumental, titled Shelter from the rain. This track gives listeners a few minutes of contemplation and absorption before hopping into the final track on the album Inertia. Through an album of darker themes of self-destructive behaviors and struggles, the band ends on a love song of uplifting and promising spirits that is said to be dedicated to Cox’s wife. The track fades out initially then comes back in with an outro that is new to the track, as it was previously released as a single without this element. The outro crescendos to the inevitable subtle sound of birds chirping, hinting at a brighter future for the continuation of Datura that presumably could be followed within the next year or two.