Hawkwind

Into The Woods CHERRY RED. CD/LP

Britain’s greatest ‘underground’ band go foraging. While their previous studio album, the conceptual The Machine Stops, was based on EM Forster’s dystopian novel of the same name, its successor is an altogether more positive attempt to commune with nature. The driving, opening title track matches muscle with texture. Cottage In The Woods follows, offering a pastoral, genteel counterpoint, and underlining the band’s oft-overlooked melodic acumen. Armed with a clattering, earthy production, these 13 tracks find Dave Brock and his men restating the importance of causes close to their heart: Ascent espouses a message of unity and love, while the wry Vegan Lunch proclaims that we should “eat more vegetables and be kind.” As Brock confirmed in last month’s MOJO Interview, Into The Woods is the sound of a band who, 27 studio albums into their career, clearly still have something to say and are having fun saying it.