More. Again. Forever.

Emerging from a dark and uncertain period following their 2016 effort, Mapping the Rendezvous, Manchester favorites Courteeners returned triumphant with their sleek, boundary-pushing sixth set, More. Again. Forever. Slicker and shinier than its rollicking predecessor, the album reveals another side to the long-running band, one that embraces dancefloor energy and groovy bass lines influenced by LCD Soundsystem. In a move similar to other late-era maturations by contemporaries like Kaiser Chiefs, Editors, and the Kooks, Courteeners -- frontman Liam Fray, guitarist Daniel Moores, drummer Michael Campbell, and bassist/producer Joe Cross -- nail the stylistic shift, injecting fresh ideas and new life without forgetting the jangly alt-indie spirit of the late 2000s when they broke onto the scene with St. Jude. That post-punk-revival cool can still be heard on tracks like "The Joy of Missing Out" -- an urgent rush that flips "FOMO" on its head, taking down the prevailing culture of everything now -- and "Take It on the Chin," a rousing anthem about getting back up when the world knocks you down. Elsewhere, however, it's a brave new world for Courteeners. The buzzing "Heart Attack" jolts this era to life with a pomp and stomp that sounds like Bowie fronting Kasabian, while the urgent "Heavy Jacket" -- complete with blaring alarms, churning bass, and rousing handclaps -- echoes the best of the Kaisers and Editors. Meanwhile, there are plenty of signs that Fray is doing his best to grow up, whether through contrition and humility on the emotive "Better Man" ("I'm trying to be a better man/Whatever that means"); by maturing beyond the temptations of youth on "Previous Parties," a biting dose of wry cool that manages to make adulting sound cooler than constant revelry; or digging deep on the beautifully insightful "Is Heaven Even Worth It?"
At a tight ten songs, More. Again. Forever. is near perfect and not a song is wasted. Yet, rising above the pack, a pair of highlights demand special note. The title track is the one with the big LCD influence, a pulse-pounding fever dream that rides a slinky bass line and urgent disco beat. The tension breaks with a rapturous chorus and is the album's standout moment. Coming in at a close second is the grand "Hanging Off Your Cloud," which features swelling strings and sparse piano reminiscent of the opening notes of Kanye West's "Runaway." This is More. Again. Forever.'s Glastonbury-sized singalong moment, and it's a stunner. For a band that is beloved on home soil but often gets lost in the crop of late-2000s U.K. exports, this catalog highlight is ample evidence of artistic greatness and proves that, even after the darkest of days, beauty and light are on the horizon. ~ Neil Z. Yeung