ALBUM REVIEW: Amber Arcades – Barefoot On Diamond Road

Fire Records

Released: 10.02.23

Conceived remotely with producer Ben Greenburg, Annelotte de Graaf’s latest album as Amber Arcades digs deeper into widescreen filmic soundscapes. By elevating the percussive and textural elements more there are times when Barefoot On Diamond Road will remind you of My Bloody Valentine gone acoustic or the portentous drama of Portishead, especially penultimate song I’m Not There.

With prominent use of classical instrumentation, the arrangements have a sibilant ‘wall of sound’ grounding the personal lyrics, and by relying less on the guitar focussed sounds of her previous releases there’s an added gravitas within the skittering dancefloor beats. Occasional breaths of light, in the form of De Graff’s twinkling vocals, appear everywhere as the stormy crushes of noise swirl around. Overall the pacing feels erratic, but the album still engages as an antidote to heartbreak.