Kids In Glass Houses - In Gold Blood

In Gold Blood feels like a rock album of old. The third effort from Kids In Glass Houses, the LP slides from track to track in a wash of guitar feedback and an energy that rarely leaves you pause for breath.

If the band's first two albums were cheerily consistent selections of potential singles, then In Gold Blood sees them taking a far different approach - here the album definitively has the feel of a complete body of work. It has pace, it has highs and lows, each track acting as a chapter in the riotous story the band aim to tell here.

There is no let up - In many ways the album feels like a studio take on a live show, but without the crowd noise or boozed-up spoken word interludes to rough things up. No, Kids In Glass Houses have already done a rather good of sufficiently 'roughing up' their noise already - and this is a good thing.

2008's youthful, intensely energetic Smart Casual (even the title basks in a kind of carefree haze) was more spritely than anything else - follow-up Dirt on the other hand basked in the charms of glossy New Wave sounds. In Gold Blood sees the band selecting a firm middle ground between these records, but also evolving - becoming more intense, real, gritty.

If anything, In Gold Blood's greatest strength is that it feels far more individual, more versatile in the tracks it presents the listener - all helping to make this the band's most consistent record to date.

The first half of the album is a masterclass in big, sing-along choruses, culminating in the brass-pumped The Florist - a track full of nods to songs like Biffy Clyro's The Captain. The horns return on Only The Brave Die Free, pop rock on an epic scale and a future festival fave for sure.

A surprise late-album highlight has to be Fire though, the group slowing the pace down for a remarkably pretty, emotional ballad. If ever a track was made to get people pulling their lighters and mobiles out, it was this one - the spacey guitar solo is divine.

In Gold Blood is available to purchase now.

New releases round-up - 15th August 2011

Kids In Glass Houses - In Gold Blood

Back with a harder, more gritty sound, Wales' current favourite rockers make it three times lucky with their new album. Following on from the success of last year's Dirt record (which included the amazing Undercover Lover), In Gold Blood is all about the adrenaline, thrills and spills. If you like your rock with the taste of gasoline and sweat-stained venues all over it, In Gold Blood is the album for you - Kids In Glass Houses, re-affirming again why they're one of the most exciting young rock groups around.

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Charlie Simpson - Young Pilgrim

He's been in Busted, dallied around with Fightstar, but his solo venture is without a doubt his most comfortable fit to date. Turning to melodic acoustic riffs and folk-tinged melodies, Charlie Simpson's Young Pilgrim album is a real surprise delight for the summer. At its best it surges into Coldplay mega-ballad territory, all emotion and an authenticity that was only ever hinted at in Simpson's previous work. Here, we see him for real, all gimmicks stripped aside - the results are highly impressive.

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Emeli Sande - Heaven

Twitter has been in something of a frenzy over Emeli in the past few weeks, but us die-hard Cheryl Cole fans have been aware of her for rather longer. After all, she co-wrote the b-side Boys to Cheryl's 3 Words single. Now there's a fact for you! These days though, Emeli is making waves on her own, putting out soulful pop records like Heaven, which comes on like a lost Massive Attack hit. Top stuff.

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Wombats - Our Perfect Disease

The last Wombats single Techno Fan was something of a revelation - finally a song from them that was not just bearable, but very, very good. Our Perfect Disease thankfully takes a number of pointers from the aforementioned track then as its full of the same bonkers synth moments and catchy hooks that marked Techno Fan out above the indie-by-numbers songs that were previously The Wombats' calling card. With the guitars packing a surprising crunch, in another life this could even have been a cut from the latest Bloc Party album.

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Kids In Glass Houses - Gold Blood / Animals

Kids In Glass Houses are back - and boy are they sounding good. It's always a sign of supreme confidence when you launch your new album with it's own mini-site, and that's exactly what the band have done for their new LP In Gold Blood.

The record's first taster track Gold Blood was initially offered as a free download - the song sees the band taking on a far rougher, gritty sound than the New Wave-inspired gloss-pop of Dirt. Feedback screeches over guitar hooks that pickaxe their way into the senses while the chorus sees the band heading more towards the territory of fellow Welsh rockers Lostprophets.

And if Gold Blood is good, Animals is even better. Last Monday Zane Lowe played the track as his 'Hottest Record' . Thundering guitar lines and a big chorus to rival anything off the band's last two albums, Animals looks set to be a big live favourite - it's also the perfect track to announce with a bang that they're back.

If you weren't lured in by their previous material, this will be the one that really gets you - whereas the band's past singles could at times come across as fey and innocent, this new Kids In Glass Houses has been there and done it all; now they're back, dirty and bruised and with the passion set to boil.

The band described their new album as a game-changer, and if these two tracks are anything to go by, it looks a fair bet.

The new, re-invisioned Kids In Glass Houses see the band entering their adrenaline fuelled adolescent stage - wild and packing a formdible punch, it's a stage in their development we have every intention of riding with.

Gold Blood is available to download from iTunes now. The album In Gold Blood is released on the 15th August with Animals preceding it, the week before.