Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It takes a village to raise a child, it takes a city to mould it, so what does that mean for the Bright Town that gives the youth its first sense of the dynamic that awaits, the joy of performance that waiting in the wings to be released; could it be that this is where the generations meet, where the once narrow road widens and encourages the youth to take on the mantle of adult hood and take issue with mess left in ruins by the previous incumbents, to smash the relics to Smithereens.

The second E.P. from Bright Town is an affair of the heart, each segment a valve that releases sentiment as if it were steam powering an engine of gigantic proportions, but one also capable of the sweeping delicate movements that create precision, that are the foundations of strict progression.

Smithereens is that progression utilised, another step on from 2021’s self-titled E.P. release that captured the public attention and which in its right is a force to be encountered and recognised.

An album raised by conscious and serious intent, an album that has a voice refusing to be anonymous, one that a parent might be astonished to hear, but one on which they recognise the genius of lyric and pleasure inducing musical accompaniment and be proud of the intent delivered.

To smash the past is every young person’s right, but to administer in such a way that those who lived the moment in days gone by are not found to be threatened by all they know torn apart takes skill, generosity and panache, three attributes that Bright Town have in abundance, and across the tracks Something You’re Not, Ghosts, Smother, Something To, and Bottom, the band reach out and shake the apathy of illusion with care, a mighty engine indeed, and one that creates and transports with diligence and meticulous insight.

A terrifically balanced set of songs, an E.P. to engage with fully.

Ian D. Hall