Otiole Colour

Tracklist:

1. Guided Tour
2. Drop Me Out W
3. orth the Wait
4. Feeling Bless
5. Fill the Gap
6. Farringdon
7. Mob DLA
8. Untethered
9. Deserve It
10. Mind’s a Lie
11. Gone Forever

From its opening seconds of a cab door slamming, a car revving away, and a baggy rhythm swinging to life, Guided Tour sounds like a band reaching for new heights, bristling with energy. Recorded across a few weeks at Holy Mountain Studios in London with producer Jonah Falco and engineer Stanley Gravett, the results feel dynamic and dialed-in, like anthems burned into sense memory through sweat and repetition. Harper cuts to the chase: “We had a clear idea going in, every moment got used. Maybe when were 60 we can sit around and get a drum sound right, but for now its about getting things done.”

The albums 11 songs span the spectrum of contemporary guitar music, sharpened by experience, camaraderie, and societal frustrations. From swaggering street punk (“Drop Me Out,” “Mob DLA”) to jangling indie sneer (“Worth The Wait,” “Deserve It”) to heavy alt (“Feeling Bless,” “Fill The Gap”) to shoegazey spoken word (“Untethered”), the groups chemistry transmutes any style to their unique intensity. Sayle champions this evolving fusion: “For years coming from hardcore, we had pretty clear boundaries other scenes were separate worlds. Now things are getting more blended, drawing from different places.”

Nowhere is this sentiment flexed more boldly than on Minds A Lie, a dance- punk anthem inspired by Harpers love of house, garage, and pirate radio. Stabs of sampled female vocals (by celebrated South London singer and DJ Ell Murphy) build into a razor wire rhythm of low-slung bass, tense drums, and sparkling guitar before Sayles staunch voice starts barking harsh truths (“Face to face with all Ive known / I cant call these thoughts my own”). After a sudden breakdown, the track regroups and takes off, cruising into the horizon in a haze of chiming guitars and Murphys ascendant voice, from the streets to somewhere beyond.