Once appealing to the pop-punk crowd with their first two records Meet Me Halfway, At Least and Fools And Worthless Liars, Norfolk-based rock band Deaf Havana have completely reformulated their sound and style on their latest release Rituals. Their previous two albums Old Souls and All These Countless Nights were very hit-and-miss, however, with the misses outweighing the hits with ‘Boston Square’ and ‘Subterranean Bullshit Blues’ being few-and-far-between examples of such successes. One would think, therefore, that Deaf Havana taking on a new approach to their songwriting would be the right way to move forward but, somehow, the band have managed to produce their worst album to date.

So, what’s gone wrong? Again, hits seldom crop up, just like on their two previous albums. The band’s key songwriter and frontman James Veck-Gilodi had a concept of redemption and forgiveness in mind for Rituals’ themes, but he does very little to capitalize on it. In addition, the band opt for a pop-rock persona this time round which, unfortunately, becomes stale and apathetic far too quickly and undermines a marvellous introduction with the 40-second instrumental ‘Wake’ followed by ‘Sinner’. The latter is bolstered by Lee Wilson’s groovy basslines, Veck-Gilodi’s vocal projection and the song’s seemingly gospel-like inclinations. “I’ve been lying to you more each day / ‘Cause I’m a sinner / In all my sins I’ve found / They won’t wash away” sums up the unnamed protagonist’s inner-demons and struggles which define the rest of the album.

Between the tracks ‘Ritual’ and ‘Worship’, which makes up a large portion of the tracklisting, references about alcohol abuse are found throughout, sometimes metaphorically as well as literally, and is affecting a relationship he has with his presumed girlfriend (it is unclear whether it is just her who is affected). Whether it be the songs ‘Saviour’, ‘Hell’ or ‘Holy’, there are no distinct chapters throughout the album’s narrative and is fixated on the notion that the protagonist is going through emotional turmoil. It’s not until the closing two tracks ‘Saint’ and ‘Epiphany’ where the listener finally hears anything remotely associated with redemption. The latter is where the band shine the most as the protagonist dreams and craves having a regular life (“And on Sundays, take my kids to church / I want to befriend couples and drink wine / But two glasses, not bottles this time”). But once the listener reaches this point, it’s too little too late.

What really lets Rituals down is the banal and facile lyrics that fills the listener with a feeling of ad-nauseam cringe and laughter rather than empathy. For example, here’s an extract from the chorus of the song ‘Fear’: “I treat your love like it’s a drug / ‘Cause I’m addicted to the rush, oh”. Furthermore, “’Cause when I’m with you I feel so alive” and “And all the mistakes I made still eat me up inside” are lines taken from the chorus of ‘Heaven’. Not only have these ideas been perpetuated already on the album, but also generally by other artists. Deaf Havana don’t lyrically explore other complexities or issues regarding alcohol abuse which results in very clichéd expressions regarding what this person is going through.

Bland and pretentious instrumentation, unexceptional lyrics and a deeply-flawed narrative, Rituals tries too hard to be sincere and meaningful but severely lacks any kind of wisdom or insight. Easily one of 2018’s worst releases thus far! (3/10) (Harry Beynon)

Listen to Rituals by Deaf Havana here via Spotify – if you must – and tell us what you think below!