With the opening electronic beats of Jetstream to the simply heart rendering Lifelines, Kingdom of Rust was quite possibly “the” defining album of 2009. Taking in all their early influences, including some of their dance music influences from back when they were the tragically under rated Sub Sub, and building upon them in their own unique style. The album itself has moment of musical intensity only matched by Unknown Pleasures; stark, eerie, moving and very Northern!

The title track, which is also the lead single, blends their sound for the weepy epic ballad along with a country feel of Johnny Cash which is followed by the foot-stomping monster The Outsiders which has all the force and feel of a freight train hitting you. The album peaks and troughs like this throughout, one minute pure euphoria of New Order’s singles right through to the darker depths of Morrisey’s and the Smiths more acerbic material. The albums mood changes with every song, this isn’t a bad thing, but it will move you to want to keep listening to it again and again to just feel a full array of feelings you never thought you could get from one album.

Standout Tracks: I’d like to say all of them but i’ve picked three which I think are the “standout” tracks on the album:

The Outsiders
Kingdom Of Rust
House Of Mirrors