The Assist - Disconnections 
Release Date: Out Now
This is only the second album from the Assist but already it is in the running for album of the year and it is potentially one of the most important albums of the year as well. It is the band's mix of accessible indie banger melodies and thought provoking lyrics that hold a mirror up to society. So, 'Disconnections' opens with 'Through Her Eyes' and the opening line "When I walk through these streets I don't feel trouble, I take my surroundings in. But she walks with her keys between her knuckles, and only one earphone in". The soft piano melody of this opening track swells and a beat joins in but this is very much a prelude or a starter for the main course so don't fill up just yet. Title track and recent single 'Disconnections' settles into indie anthem territory and you can feel the grey skies and oppressively identical days weighing heavily on the lyrics.
On 'What's Best For Me' we are treated to an introspective self-help track about hauling yourself up and out of the slump while 'Sometimes' has a vibe that is somewhere between the Jam and Hard-Fi, full of scratchy guitars and tight beats. The sounds of happy children fade out at the start of 'The Luckiest Man' before the band explore the conflict of existing between being grateful for what you have and wanting to achieve more with your life. 'Love's Our Only Hope' is an initially gentle melody with a slight skank to it but the sway gains power and purpose towards the end of the song, singing "what supposed to do when we lose those we love the most?".
'Addiction' is 92 seconds of pure honesty as a spoken word confession of addiction is set to an ominously lurching beat before 'Relapse' blends the euphoria of Madchester melodies and beats with the gritty indie guitars that the Assist have claimed as their own. Penultimate track 'Day Off' opens with a mangled vocal sample before the poppiest and most up tempo song of the album arrives and gives you a real sense of freedom despite the lyrics being mired in procrastination and a lack of motivation. The album closes out on 'This Is My World', a six minute beast the hums and stutters into life before the beat takes over and we're down to business with shuddering indie guitars, vocals delivered with a thick Black Country accent and even some horns to really kick this one over the top. The Assist are a band, they are mates, they are young men and they are English. This is exactly the demographic that is supposed to be being left behind by society so surely we need to be listening to them before any more decisions get make. This is music with soul, songs with heart and an album with a social conscience. Superb stuff.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/TheAssistBand
Live Dates
16th May - Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield
23rd May - The Old England, Bristol
30th May - The Lodge (Deaf Institute), Manchester
6th June - Camden Assembly, London
7th June - O2 Institute 2, Birmingham
19th-22nd June - Isle of Wight Festival, Isle of Wight