Albums to watch

Luminous

The Horrors

Luminous

Southend five-piece release their fourth studio album of moody indie rock

ADM rating[?]

7.5

Label
XL
UK Release date
05/05/2014
US Release date
06/05/2014
  1. 10.0 |   musicOMH

    A sure-fire summer soundtrack from a band who are far more cerebral than they’d have you believe
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  2. 10.0 |   DIY

    Fragments of the group's past link together and the future illuminates in unison. 'Luminous' is the album they've been destined to make
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  3. 10.0 |   Time Out

    It looked after ‘Skying’ as though The Horrors were on the cusp of something brilliant, but ‘Luminous’ shines even brighter than anyone had any right to anticipate
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  4. 9.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Marks another fitting addition to The Horrors' increasingly untouchable catalogue
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  5. 9.0 |   Digital Spy

    They haven't just perfected their sound - they've truly owned it
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  6. 9.0 |   FasterLouder

    This is modern, ambitious, widescreen pop music par excellence
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  7. 9.0 |   Exclaim

    Luminous finds the Horrors slicing through the shrouds of heavily-soaked reverb and paltry compositions that defined their past two LPs
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  8. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    The Horrors are done with moping around. Forget shoegazing; any gazing being done is upwards, beyond the sky - much, much further than that
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  9. 9.0 |   God Is In The TV

    ‘Luminous’ sees them take things to truly stratospheric levels
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  10. 8.5 |   Under The Radar

    Another triumph from a band whose evolution goes from strength to strength
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  11. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Five eccentrics mangling their beloved early-electronic influences to make pop that’s vaguely magnificent and magnificently vague
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  12. 8.0 |   The FT

    Continues the group’s transformation from fright-fest punk riffs into a more serious proposition
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  13. 8.0 |   NME

    For a band who tend to deal in abstractions, there are parts of 'Luminous' that sound positively unguarded. Almost every part of it sounds sublime, though
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  14. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    The Horrors may need to shake up their sound more radically next time, but Luminous still sounds light years ahead of the current guitar-band pack
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  15. 8.0 |   The Digital Fix

    This is a sure-fire winner, cementing their position as one of our most progressive and innovative bands
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  16. 8.0 |   Q

    A vast, starry-eyed sonic stew. Print edition only

  17. 8.0 |   State

    There is so much adventurousness on Luminous that, in less capable hands, it could have ended up sounding like a misconceived mess
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  18. 8.0 |   The Music

    An intricately clever record that is pure ear candy
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  19. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    There are no killer punches, there's no passionate (perfect) kiss. Instead there's an ambiguity, an ambivalence that is ultimately more fascinating and worthwhile
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  20. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    They’ve greatly expanded the scope of the traditional pop form, and their songs feel like compositions: rich, restless texts full of moving parts and shifting layers
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  21. 7.5 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    The Horrors do have a masterpiece inside them, and with each release it’s bubbling closer to the surface. Luminous is not it
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  22. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    For a band that started out looking like Victorian hearse drivers, the Horrors’ attempts at musical brightness are mesmerizing
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  23. 7.0 |   Beardfood

    The cool Brits don't reinvent themselves, but they've grown into their sound
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  24. 7.0 |   Fact

    The Horrors haven’t pulled off another quantum leap, but by slowing down and bedding into their sound, they’ve made a record that feels both studied and instinctual, elevated and elemental, and that’s no mean feat
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  25. 7.0 |   Uncut

    Bold pop reinvention just lacks that killer tune. Print edition only

  26. 6.7 |   Pitchfork

    As with Skying, it’s a high compliment to say Luminous is a giant bowl of assorted, premium ear candy, and it’s about as nourishing, which maybe is the point
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  27. 6.0 |   The Observer

    Having traded in all their early attitude for non-stop blissed-out jamming, the Horrors' default mode – equable lassitude – is beginning to pall a touch
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  28. 6.0 |   The Independent

    It’s not bad, as such, but like Primal Scream it promises more than it delivers
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  29. 6.0 |   Mojo

    Though songs maintain a stirring balance of shimmying pop appeal and experimentation, elsewhere the momentum is compromised. Print edition only

  30. 6.0 |   Clash

    It’s a welcoming experience, an embrace from a band that used to want to boot your shins in – and the polite deathblow that finally downs the puckish Horrors of old
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  31. 6.0 |   The Irish Times

    Eclectic? Certainly. Confused? Possibly. Luminous? If you have the patience for repeat listens, most definitely
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  32. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Luminous sees the band settle into the sound of 2011’s Skying
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  33. 5.0 |   Entertainment.ie

    Luminous demonstrates an ever growing smugness, worrying signs that the Horrors are beginning to believe their own hype
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  34. 5.0 |   The 405

    A much tauter editing process, snipping the gristly fat and extended flanginess, would make this a better album
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  35. 4.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    Having earned the right to do what they like after three artistically intriguing records, they’re exercising it to make the safest music of their careers
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The Horrors: Luminous

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. Chasing Shadows £0.89
  • 2. First Day of Spring £0.89
  • 3. So Now You Know £0.89
  • 4. In and Out of Sight £0.89
  • 5. Jealous Sun £0.89
  • 6. Falling Star £0.89
  • 7. I See You £0.89
  • 8. Change Your Mind £0.89
  • 9. Mine and Yours £0.89
  • 10. Sleepwalk £0.89
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