A lot has happened since March 2020, when North London’s Sorry released their full-length debut “925”. For the band’s Asha Lorenz, that meant that she “just did what everyone else did, I went a bit mad.” She and her best friend Louis O’Bryen—joined in Sorry by Lincoln Barrett (drums), Campbell Baum (multiple) and Marco Pini (electronics), and on the album by producer Adrian Utley (Portishead)—work through that inner deterioration on the band’s sophomore album “Anywhere But Here”, 13 tracks of dark pop-rock that press materials describe as “Diazepam dream pop.” Lorenz and O’Bryen purposefully modulate their give and take, and the album ends up feeling like a torn-out heart, expanding and contracting with each beat. Hooky dance-punk opener “Let the Lights On” gives way to “Tell Me,” which feints towards an intimate O’Bryen-led ballad before revealing its true form as a dynamic rock duet.
“Key to the City” backs Lorenz’s wandering, perhaps lost lyrics with neon-streaked guitar-pop, then steps aside to make room for the pseudo-blues shuffle of “Willow Tree.” Later, “Screaming in the Rain” strips almost everything but heartbreak away as Lorenz yowls like a gentler Karen O. If “Anywhere But Here” is what madness sounds like, then perhaps there’s hope for us all.
Earwigged conversations, text messages, snatched speech recorded underground; the city’s discarded words fed into the lyrics which map the experience of urban life on a young and frustrated generation. Produced alongside Portishead’s Adrian Utley in Bristol, the result is an angular, acerbic, bittersweet triumph.
“A superb return from the multi-faceted group.” Clash ★★★★
“Truly impressive.” Loud and Quiet ★★★★
“Magnetic and magnificent.” Stereogum Album of The Week
Sorry’s universally-acclaimed debut album “925” earned a string of near-perfect review scores, A-List national radio playlists and global media profiles upon its release in March 2020. “Anywhere But Here” is the band’s first full body of work since the “Twixtustwain” EP arrived last year, alongside the official digital release of their brace of 2017 mixtapes “Home Demo/ns Vol I”. and “Home Demo/ns Vol. II”.
from the album ‘Anywhere But Here’ out now on Domino Recordings .
The Fat Angel Sings 