“We totally threw out the rulebook of how we write and record,” says Laura-Mary Carter of Blood Red Shoes’ third album. No kidding. Whilst ‘In Time To Voices’ doesn’t completely bin-off their brattish punk beginnings, it finds Carter and band-mate Steven Ansell making more psychedelic strides. Save for the compelling off-beat groove of ‘Cold’, however, things actually get off to a fairly groggy start. It’s only by the middle of the album that Blood Red Shoes, ahem, really get into their stride.
‘Two Dead Minutes’ burbles gently until leaping into a crashing-but-controlled crescendo, while the song it gives way to – the stripped back and skeletal ‘Silence And The Drones’ – is a smart contradiction in quiet-loud; its gradual swell eventually blossoming into something that’s simultaneously heavy and hushed. ‘Night Light’ is entirely acoustic, but not the most surprising twist. No, that’ll be ‘Stop Kicking’, where the pair momentarily morph into Los Campesinos!; bright, optimistic and just a weenie bit twee. It may be a skip away from the processes they know best but, in ‘In Time To Voices’, Blood Red Shoes find fresh invention.

Rhian Daly