Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Whilst it is most certainly well within the genre of pop, there is something decidedly Gothic within the heartbeat of the experience; upbeat and all smiles, but deep down there is a marvellous sense of hypnotic, erratic heartbreak that sums up the Singaporean indiepop band, Blush, and their new album Beauty Fades, Pain Lasts Forever.
It is a truism of life that the title itself hits home with the force of a hammer against the chest plates made of steel that adorn our selves and our psyche; and that statement then finds a way to shatter any illusions that pop as a genre is there to only edify and cause a growing sense of satisfaction in the ego. For despite the hypnotic groove and upbeat nature framed by the band, it is in the underscore, the unmentioned reveal that the songs sing their most beautiful and entrancing, melancholic passions.
It is the duty, to which Blush have adhered to with pride and gratification, to underline complex emotions even in the sanguine pop lyric; optimism can still hold doubt, confidence must understand that uncertainty is prevalent in the background, and across the tracks Poison the Well, T.V. Mind, Love Is A Dog From Hell. Lover’s Speed, Everything Was Made In Spring, and the argumentative smash and grab that finds a way to punish and elevate with equal praise, the outstanding Swallowing 999999 Needles, that duty is nailed on, pop driven mischievous, craftily desirable, and fully engaging in its worth.
Beauty Fades, Pain Lasts Forever is a kind of theatre, one bound in curiosity, deceptive and pleasing, not a moment wasted in its pursuit of the dreamscape sonatas and the flirting with the sentimental affecting sound. By doing so, by being direct to their cause, the follow up to 2023’s Supercrash, is creative, heavy, pop alluring and one that defines Soffi Peters, Daniel Pei, Darrell Laser and the reuniting of Jared Lim on production and guitar in simple brilliance.
An enjoyable sojourn into a different kind of pop, eastern based, catchy, with a truth of damaged poignancy attached to the inner soul.
Ian D. Hall