No Devolución

Album Review

Representing a serious sea change for post-hardcore/screamo outfit Thursday, No Devolución finds the band taking their normally frantic sound into more ethereal territories. While the band has worked with producer/sonic visionary Dave Fridmann in the past, it would seem that the third time really is a charm for the band. More so than on their other collaborations, the Fridmann/Thursday team-up seems to have really clicked this time around, with the spacy producer making his presence felt on the album. The biggest change for the band is how much more layered this album is compared to their earlier work. Songs like “No Answers” and the album-closer “Stay True” show the band taking a more textural, almost post-rock approach, building the songs in layers and focusing less on drive and raw emotion and more on mood. In a lot of ways, No Devolución is a lot like Mercury Rev’s Deserter’s Songs, with the Jersey band exploring more relaxed and atmospheric territories while keeping the core of their songwriting intact to create an album that feels simultaneously stripped down yet somehow grander than anything they’ve done in the past. While this new sound might require a period of adjustment for older fans, No Devolución is an album that could easily make converts out of the skeptical, allowing the band to reintroduce themselves to the world over a decade after their first album was released.