We Were Promised Jetpacks : These Four Walls

The band’s youthful energy (their average age at the time was 21) explodes thunderously as colossal choruses fall unfailingly into place. Every space is filled, tension bristling achingly in Adam Thompson’s vocal delivery as the rest of the band crashes around him with a perfect balance of force and harmony. The romanticism and accessibility of a pure pop sensibility is never hidden too deep. Both ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves’ and ‘Quiet Little Voices’ capture this beautifully and immediately. The product of Ken Thomas’ (Sigur Ros, Cocteau Twins, David Bowie etc.) studio mastery and Peter Katis’ (Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad, The National etc.) mixing, the recording of ‘These Four Walls’ was almost entirely live, with only minimal overdubs, and the band members’ collected passion and intuition is translated into a pure, precise form, at once powerful and delicate. We Were Promised Jetpacks’ ‘These Four Walls’ signifies a debut album that has the sort