m b v

It’s arrived - the vinyl LP & CD package of My Bloody Valentine’s longed-for album, ‘m b v’, as already heard via initially-acquired mp3 but required in physical form(s) to confirm, embody, the very existence of, lovingly presented in a gatefold sleeve (& dig the lounge carpet in our new bungalow too).

And here’s side two of the LP, come to rest on the turntable of the record player, the playing of & listening-to the platter a thrilling analogue experience, the perfect vehicle to complement the sound of the music.

A fine & engrossing sound it is too, not, perhaps, as immediately melodically developed as the many wonders of ‘Loveless’ yet extending the sonic boundaries of both that album & the preceding ‘Isn’t Anything’, to which reference is also made (in a sense, whilst going well beyond, ‘m b v’ also occupies territory between), intensifying that essential My Bloody Valentine aesthetic. From the typically woozy, entrancing opening, which draws the listener into the vortex, through the enveloping thrill of the electric & electronic soundscape, a pair of highlights have thus far emerged – the heavily-buzzing ‘Only Tomorrow’ with its vocal soars & repeated ‘glam’ guitar refrain, & the shimmering (relatively) poppy gorgeousness of ‘If I Am', which each occupying what are effectively the centres of the first two distinct thirds into which the sequence of the 9 tracks of the album are divided (although the 4 – 5 split over the two sides of the vinyl complicates this a little, of course).
Subtleties reveal themselves with each successive listen, via the various formats, but the encompassing comfort of the whole, a welcome addition to the canon, something of an unexpected pleasure after over 20 years of waiting, hoping, more than suffices for now: welcome back My Bloody Valentine & welcome ‘m b v’.