Jordan Reyne came onto my radar several years ago with her industrial percussive doom folk that seemed so steeped in history. With her latest album “The Annihilation Sequence” Jordan plays to her strengths and continues to develop her quite unique sound.
The title track opens the album which tautly spins around a single chord and occasionally bends and twists off of it. The tension is pulled out further as Jordan snarls and rages over the top of it and the drums have occasional freakouts. It also introduces new listeners to Jordan’s vocal duelling where she has her voice playing side by side in a chorus of herself. This album uses it much more subtly than some of her previous work but it’s still there spreading the sound out wider than it would normally. “The Player” then continues the tension with a gasp used as a percussive beat whilst metal squeals and screeches behind the guitars and synths. It’s certainly a more apocalyptic sound rather than the more shanty route Reyne normally takes and when coupled with angelic backing vocals it makes for a powerful track. Veering off delightfully into something more akin to Silent Hill, “The Narcissus” brings us thick molasses of atmosphere with rhythmic breathing and empty harsh synths making a noise that points to a feeling rather than giving you a hook. It’s impressive that Reyne can entirely captivate you with her voice alone. “The Wall” takes a darker look on Humpty Dumpty and brings along a more band focus in the closest Reyne comes to a doom rock track on the album.
“The Cab Driver” has a great skipping beat to it and a dirty synth vibe going on throughout. Jordan goes for a much softer vocal approach and it works beautifully but there is a guy talking all the way through the final minute whom swears every third or fourth word. I’m no prude to swearing in music, I do in my own, but when it’s just littered to every couple of words it becomes a little overtired. “The Gentleman” brings things back home again with rocking acoustic guitars and vocal loops, something ramped up with “Pieces of Me” as the lyrics harmonise “You’re a little more dead, with me” in a powerful psychedelic fashion. The final track on the standard edition is “(Bite) The Hand That Feeds” which goes for echoing guitar chambers and ethereal synths over a thumping drum beat. It’s a very mysterious end to a tense album.
If you get the full edition there is a more electric remix of “(Bite) The Hand That Feeds” which works very well as it crosses dub step with real heavy industrial rock. It suits the track perfectly. “No Safety In Silence” follows a more electronic remix with plenty of synths before “The Cabbie” comes with a more dirty synth pop version The Cab Driver. Finally “Safety in Silence (Paralysed)” ends the album with a song that takes a few listens to get into because it’s a unique beat/chord structure that takes some getting used to in the choruses. Interesting design and great doom pop.
Jordan Reyne’s latest album is an evolution onto a darker side than usual for the singer/songwriter. As she teams up with other artists like Eden House you can hear the influences really pushing through. As if there were any doubt though, it’s a fantastic album and one I’d recommend anyone to take a chance on if they’d like music with a bite.