After 26 years of slumber, The Wake punch a hole through the gathered layers of dust and cobwebs. I was lucky enough to see them live at Sacrosanct in London in 1997 where their energetic darkness eclipsed the rest of the bands on the line up. The Wake were one of the top Gothic rock bands of 90’s which has kept them on many DJ’s playlists ever since. Is their third album Perfume and Fripperies as good as Masked or Nine Ways?

The album opens with Daisy a beautiful slice of gothic melancholy with same magnificent musically depth as shown in theor previous cover of 16 days. Epic! Hammer Hall is the first track that heralded The Wake’s awakening and will once again ignite the dancefloor (once govt’s take realistic steps to allow dancing- VR is not the way but a boot on the windpipe of music) just like Locomotive Age you will be addicted to this track! Marry Me would fit like a glove on any of their previous albums as the guys shows their has been no erosion of their musical tightness and depth.

Break Me Not – The Wake never were a formular gothic clone and never will be due Troy’s unique vocal style and Richard’s signature guitars which are stamped all over the album. Great track! Perfumes and Fripperies pulses and bounces along like a gothic train. Love it! Rusted 20 has the makings of a classic stamped all over it. Love it!

 

Everything features Wolfie from local Leeds band RLYR and naturally the sound is a slight departure from the the trademark guitars expected from The Wake. A great song! Emily Closer (MH direct-drive mix) one of the stand out tracks on the album, a great synth arrangement adds a new level of brilliance. Wow! Big Empty powered up with gothic tribalistic drums. Lovely! Figurine sees a drop in pace but no loss of Gothic magnificence! The album closes with Rusted (Hz healer mix feat Caroline Blind) another great track which brings the album to an end.

This album is a great return and shows what has been missing from Gothic rock. I look forward very much to seeing them live in 2021. Go buy it, released on 30th October.