★½
Six years on from their last albumSundancer, Sydney blues rock outfit The Fumes return with their third releaseBloodless, as well as a new member (producer and bassist Ryan Hazel). But whether it’s the changes, the years between albums, or both,Bloodlessis a disappointment.
From opening track ‘Silverstar’, it’s clear the band is seeking a new direction for its sound. The issue is that it never figures out what that direction is. There is a darker tone, but it’s messy and unfocused; new ideas jar against the band’s traditional sound instead of accentuating it. A clear example is the title track, energetic and tight, but completely undone when a piano melody cuts across, grating against everything you’ve heard until that point, and which only seems to have been added in because there was a piano lying around the studio.
It’s confusing why The Fumes didn’t release an EP to test the changes, instead of spending two years on a floundering album whose tone detracts from enjoyable tracks like ‘Jazz’ and ‘Over The River’.
The Fumes are capable of great material, but whatever potential Bloodless had is lost beneath the fumbling of new ideas and cobwebs of the old.
