Temples

Volcano

Kettering band come of age with self produced second album.

As with Temples’ 2014 debut Sun Structures, Volcano was produced and engineered by singer/guitarist and chief songwriter James Bagshaw in his Kettering studio. Again, the group balance carefully crafted prog-pop with transitional mood states. In the second camp: All Join In, a woozy wall of sound punctuated with orchestral flourishes and explosions of reverb, written by keyboardist Adam Smith, a Syd-head who channels his whimsy and strangeness well. Certainty, meanwhile, falls into both camps; its classic ’60s melody underpinned by wheezy, whirring synths and spacey effects that spook and transfix in equal measure. Tracks such as Celebration, Mystery Of Pop and Roman God-Like Man, though, point to something entirely new. Their screwball pageant of glam stomp, Broadway musical, and driving synths make it clear. Temples aren’t stuck in the past, they’ve glimpsed the future.