Nottingham’s four-piece Divorce follow up their sparkling, yet erratic debut-single, with what can only be described as “the biggest love story since the ‘Bee Movie’”. Their latest release, ‘Pretty’, continues to nurture the quartet’s alt-country style, pollinated by a mixture of grunge and indie-pop hooks.
As ‘Pretty’ begins, it is laced with a dark and brooding imminence. Discordant honey drips from the squealing, syrupy guitar tones. The underlying, distorted growls of the bass drone along with the cyclical swatting of the drums. Juxtaposing between the ominous prowling vocal melodies lies the almost Big Thief-esque flair, weeping with country-twanged vocal harmonies, transforming ‘Pretty’ into a ballad like none other.
With a name like Divorce, it would be fair to expect songs about the sporadic collisions of love, and ’Pretty’ delivers just that. “The two characters in this song are holding onto each other despite scrutiny and humiliation. It’s a portrait of two tortured people set inside a makeshift ballad about preserving one pure thing in an insane world” explains vocalist and guitarist Felix Mackenzie-Barrow. Despite the pain that becomes projected onto each other, there lies the beauty in their mutual understanding. As ‘Pretty’ approaches its final breath, the buzzing of guitars swarms into a passionate fury, and the pair come together for one last concluding “He ain’t pretty, but he’s mine.”
Divorce are beginning to establish themselves as a name to watch out for. Already signed to the London label ‘Hand In Hive’ (TV Priest, Wyldest, Blackaby), the band consist of members from existing outfits like Do Nothing and Megatrain, but Divorce are becoming a crystallising form in their own right.
Photo by Alice Ashley
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