White Lung crush new ground beneath their heels

Paradise begins with a bang, as “Dead Weight” is vintage White Lung. The track features stellar vocals from singer Mish Barber-Way and spiraling guitar that give the track a sense of escalating drama. Opening with it is a bold move – like turning an action movie on at the start of the climactic battle – and Paradise does mellow out after its blood-curdling opener.

“Below” flirts with vintage power pop, with churning guitar from Kenneth William that is simultaneously pretty and harsh. “This is my Stevie-Nicks-meets-Celine Dion ballad,” said Barber-Way of it in a press release. “I needed to try to do a ballad about glamorous women…It’s a song about the preservation of glamour and beauty.” That intent, when put through the filter of White Lung’s yearning aggression, is channeled into, “A broken crystal carcass reflects in all the light/I see it fading now but it’s so bright, so bright”.

Of all the manic emotional highs and lows on Paradise, the most exhilarating is “Kiss Me When I Bleed”, a “riches-to-rags” fairytale that takes an endearing pride in love at its grossest and most violent.

The title track is actually an incredibly sweet imploration to escape from society (think Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Run Away With Me” but performed by Sonic Youth), with Barber-Way’s vocals bolstered by a hard-driving instrumental.

Overall, Paradise is another thrilling entry into White Lung’s catalogue that proves the band still has plenty of exciting new ground to crush beneath their heel.