The Understudies - If Destroyed True (2019)

A full five years after their acclaimed debut album, London-based band The Understudies are pleased to announce their next full-length release, If Destroyed True. Running at 11 tracks over 45 minutes, the album reflects a change in tone from previous works, with greater attention to arrangements and sonic texture, shifting between sparse piano-led ballads, ominous minor-key synth drones and melodic, yet melancholic, pop songs. There is a greater sense of atmosphere and sophistication in their instrumentation allowing them to explore new themes. The band have all expanded their remit beyond their primary live functions, adding new instrumentation and switching roles, allowing for a diversity of ideas and more inventive arrangements, taking influence from Scott Walker, and the later works of Talk Talk, along with the ever-present admiration of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Jack, and The Auteurs.