Battle - Back To Earth

After years of struggling to get noticed, it seems that Battle are finally hitting the big time. They were acclaimed at South By South West, being called “The best thing there” (ok…it was by The Sun, but it’s still true), and have become firm favourites with the likes of Zane Lowe & Marsha from XFM. With Back To Earth, Battle have collected a couple of their popular singles, as well as four new tracks, ahead of their debut album pencilled in for a release early next year.

Opener Wicked Owl, sounding just like a Departure song, draws you in with a riff that tears forwards then brakes suddenly and Jason Bavanandan's soaring vocals asking ‘Is this the person I am?’ Next up is Tendency, which recently got into the top 40 and was proclaimed ‘The hottest record in the world today’ by Zane Lowe. Bristling with desperation and longing, Bavanandan reminds a lost love that ‘I'm the boy who threw his arms around you’. Beautiful Dynasty carries on with this theme, with ‘All my sorrows I give to you/All my pain and wasted years’, yet is saved from the depths of emo-esque depression by an infectious revolving guitar riff.

Unfortunately, Isabelle reminds me of a girl I like to call Is-a-bore, which makes me want to hate it, but Battle are so good that I just can’t bring myself to skip the track. In fact, it’s one of the best tracks on this EP, and if it had any other name it’d be perfect!

Every track on the EP is of a consistently high standard. Final track Easy To Listen To, which ends with the most amazing guitar solo, sums up how I feel about Battle. They sound like a mixture of all your favourite indie bands, with a lyrical eloquence and energy that almost forces you to keep playing this EP on repeat.

Verdict: Dark but beautiful, it begs to be listened to. Bring on the debut album!