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BERRIES Artist:BERRIES
Album: BERRIES
Label: Xtra Mile
Tracks: 10
Website: https://berriesband.co.uk/

It’s been an eventful couple of years for BERRIES since they released they debut album back in 2022. How We Function garnered them a lot of attention, leading to a session on Radio X and plays on 6 Music, not to mention tours with Feeder, Sleeper and Skinny Lister. All that means that there are a lot more eyes and ears on the eponymous second album, though if that added any additional pressure to the band, it certainly doesn’t show.

That’s not to say that there aren’t internal pressures, of course. Holly Carter, Laureen Cooper and Lexi Clark aren’t hiding away from the fact that their music tackles mental health struggles head-on, though in a way that feels overwhelmingly positive. This isn’t a collection of woe-is-me naval-gazing tracks that leave you wanting to take to bed for the next week or two. Instead there is something empowering in their garage rock style arrangements.

Lead single Watching Wax is a case in point. It’s a song about escaping from life’s stresses for a day, and the worries that keep on intruding. There is a level of tension in the song that is unescapable, but with moments of quietude throughout. It’s immediately followed on the album by Balance, which strips back everything to rely more heavily on just the vocals and acoustic guitar.

One of the undoubted highlights on the record is the excellent Jagged Routine which positively flies along. Their most recent single is an intense affair which feels raw and unpredictable, as the band play around with when to hold back and when to go full throttle.

BERRIES is an impossible album to pigeonhole. No sooner have you put it in a box when it bursts out and becomes something subtly different. The band walks a fine line between a ratcheting tension and uplifting moments which never makes this an easy listen but does make for a rewarding one. There’s little doubt that this is a band with immense potential, and every release takes them closer to realising it.

Tim Martin

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