Cane Hill are one of the most thrilling new bands around right now. Since smashing their way onto the scene in 2015 with their psychotic self titled e.p, there has only been one calendar year since where we haven’t had a release from them, with two full lengths and a live album having been added to their evergrowing and ever more impressive catalogue.
It seems then that a curveball was somewhat inevitable at some point and what we have here is what many have considered the mother of all curveballs. Kill the Sun, the bands newest is a semi acoustic stripped back e.p that is both soul crushingly vulnerable, but also full of tethered rage. Incidentally enough this is the heaviest Cane Hill have ever sounded, emotionally at least.
If last year’s Too Far Gone was the mother of all trips then Kill the Sun is the haunting vacuity of the comedown the morning after brings. The title track was wisely the first track released as it’s easily the most instant and accesible and it helps to ease the listener in to a softer side of the band and one would hope that it finds itself into the bands live set sooner than later.
Save Me is the real crowning jewel on here and showcases everything that makes Cane Hill great, the vocals and lyrics send shivers up the spine, and this may go down as Elijah Witt’s shining moment as a vocalist and is by far his best performance on any other of the band’s albums. There are so many little things he does in this song that conjure a multitude of different emotions and you feel everything that he sings, it hits even harder when you consider the songs subject matter as well, on the musical side it flows very well until the percussion kicks in towards the end building to a wonderful crescendo that feels very similar to Pantera’s cover of Planet Caravan in it’s instrumentation.
Smoking Man closes the e.p out in a particulary unique fashion with a tripped out sound over the acoustics and another stellar vocal delivery that feels very reminiscent of Strange Candy from Smile and shows that even when they are stripped down Cane Hill are more than capable of pushing the envelope and adding their own unique spin on things.
There is also room for repeated listens and there are definitely moments on here that reveal themselves over time. You will find yourself hearing new things on every listen. This is a record that demands attention and is best listened to on headphones to get the full intimacy of the experience.
Kill the Sun is the record Cane Hill have been foreshadowing throughout their career up to this date and for the dedicated fans who have been paying attention this will be of no surprise to you, but for everyone else then you are in for somewhat of a shock albeit a pleasant one. Every time Cane Hill step up to bat they seem to knock it out the park and even when you think they cannot get any better they go and prove all of us wrong
Laid bare and stripped down to their souls Cane Hill have released the most interesting and emotionally arresting release of their career and have proved once again why everyone is right for singing their praises. Kill the Sun delivers a mature and thematically rich listen for fans and leaves the door wide open for lots of exciting things in the future.
