hellions

Rue (UNFD)

It was never going to be easy for Hellions to follow ‘Opera Oblivia’. The dramacore debonairs reached a peak with the rich and ravaging theatricality of LP3. So rather than strive to reproduce its anomalous spark, the Sydney crew has taken a leap in a new direction with Rue. Bright, bouncy guitar lines and emphatically chanted gang vocals pillar the record at large, the group leaping hiccup-free between hot and heavy dance-floor anthems ( Odyssey, X) and operatic scenes of song-writing bravado ( The Lotus, Rue). But where Rue stands out most is that Faivre isn’t the band’s de-facto ‘frontman’ on it. Rather, all four members throw equal weight into the mix, standout moments gifted to each of their diverse and dynamic talents. Such means that even though Rue is Hellions’ first album as a quartet, their sound is larger and more fully realised than ever. Matt Doria