Preoccupations - Arrangements

Preoccupations

The Calgary quartet return on the scene with their fourth studio album since their debut in 2015, and first since 2018's 'New Material'. The revered characteristics of post-punk - cold, despondent, distant - are to be found throughout Preoccupation's discography, and Arrangements is no different. Harnessing bone deep bitterness is the name of their game.

Cascading guitars on 'Death of Melody' feel like shorelines wasting away - thoughts of Continental Shelf, a track on the bands debut, come into view 'Nothing is beginning, edges falling off of themselves'. The ideology that everything comes from something else in an infinite cycle is one of fascinating weight, and possible, likely, truth. Advisor, the longest track on Arrangements at over 7 minutes in length, utilizes serene strings and guitar effects in its first half to ease itself into a subdued get-down once the 4-minute mark is broken - 'the sunset seeps and separates'. It serves a similar spot to 'Memory' on their self-titled 2016 offering - a track that shifts its scopes many times over its runtime.

Penultimate track 'Recalibrate' is lined with coarse instrumentation. Backed by a motoric drum beat; skittering and scathing like a tittering villain, index finger swinging back and forth at your intentions; Preoccupations produce ever-succulent soundscapes. Ending in Eno-esque fashion, Recalibrate soothes before closing track 'Tearing up the Grass' musically comes up for air - lyrical substance still remaining deep within the sombre psyche.

Preoccupations have always had an atmospheric tinge to their material. However, Arrangements feels a lot more tuned into itself. The sound of Preoccupations can be summed up in one line, taken from 'Ricochet': 'Everything that I touch feels like the bitter end.' Beginnings can feel like endings when the mind is up to its usual tricks. Melancholy sticks around like a damp odour. Never finding its source it lingers and soaks up all senses - like a sponge, its selfish by nature. The sponge does give back, you just have to shake it to its core, squeeze it for what its worth. You can't hide from your problems, they will find you. They reverberate with a severe strength - back to base, back to square one.

A certain improvement on 2018's slightly underwhelming 'New Material'. The four year hiatus has brought us a revamp on the creative and effective end.