Hidden gems: when, every so often, a completely unknown band produces an album that completely takes your breath away. Currently unsigned Glasgow four-piece There Will Be Fireworks' self-titled debut is exactly this.From opener 'Columbia Fireworks,' There Will Be Fireworks is so wonderfully crafted. Epic ballads followed by gorgeous acoustic tracks and then back to another epic ballad. The brilliant 'A Kind Of Furnace' closes the first part of the album in similar style, and with very few vocals throughout its seven-minute duration.
Then there are the moments where it explodes out of nothing, that make you take a deep breath. The closing minute of 'We Were A Roman Candle' will knock you back in your seat, as the music explodes and the lyrics are screamed over the top. The lyrics and music work so well together, perfectly produced and always complimentary to the other.
Then there are the lyrics themselves. There's the uplifting tale told at the beginning of the album, and moments like the end of 'Midfield Maestro' when the line "you're unravelling in my arms" is sung over and over, to equal the crashing guitars and cymbals. There are the lines "I could have been more careful, I could have been more kind, I should have held my tongue until I knew that it was right" as 'We Were A Roman Candle' thunders to a close.
There are influences from all over the Scottish music scene in this wonderful debut. There's the beautiful grandness of Frightened Rabbit, the thundering guitars of The Twilight Sad, not to mention hints of 'When It's All Over...'-era Snow Patrol and even nods to American influences, the likes of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Brand New. To quote the band's Myspace, they love "bands who manage to be both brutal and beautiful simultaneously," and that is exactly what they have achieved here. A perfect debut, one of the best for years.
