The Horrors

Night Life FICTION. CD/DL/LP Faris Badwan’s nocturnalist firebrands double down on goth credentials. A CLASSIC English rock band, ever game for an aesthetic/conceptual reinvention, The Horrors’ two-single dalliance in industrial noise almost sank them mid-Covid. So, a full eight years on from fifth outing V, it’s a trimmed line-up of Badwan (vocals) and Rhys Webb (bass) who here revert to flat-out goth-rock – perhaps cannily, with black-wearers back in vogue amid comebacks from Siouxsie Sioux and The Cure. Where latter albums presented a naggingly overcooked sound, producer Yves Rothman wisely marshalled Night Life in six weeks in LA, with new keyboard player Amelia Kidd chipping in remotely from Glasgow. Within ominously booming coordinates often evoking Hans Zimmer-style soundtracking, dark-pop miracles reliably happen, including Trial By Fire’s Bauhaus-y, post-apocalyptic histrionics and…