Leeds-based five piece Vessels release their fourth studio album, The Great Distraction via Different Recordings. Featuring collaborations with The Flaming Lips, John Grant, Vincent Neff (Django Django) and Harkin (Sky Larkin), The Great Distraction is Vessels’ most ambitious record to date, and marks further evolution of a band always exploring new avenues of expression. While celebrated third album Dilate, and the breathtaking live shows that accompanied it, were characterised by a definitive electronic shift, The Great Distraction is about much more than a desire to go four-to-the-floor. It forcefully delivers on that premise in the widescreen power of opener Mobilise, in the dark energy of the pulsing Position, and in the deep build-up of Glower, but some notable collaborations represent another impressive step forward in Vessels’ determined progression. The results stand tall amongst Vessels’ typically towering slow-burners as Wayne Coyne’s vocal soars towards the clouds on Deflect the Light, Vincent Neff’s presence adds to the powerful dramatics of Trust Me, and John Grant imbues Erase the Tapes with characteristically austere beauty. Where those collaborations embody the hallmark of a band pushing forward, it’s the unrelenting, hypnotic intensity of tracks like Radiart and the fragmented, complex beauty of Radio Decay that anchor Vessels’ essential evolution in core elements of their past. In that respect, The Great Distraction represents a band analysing its own meaning and balancing the stark realities of life, death and ageing with the explosive bursts of energy that have been a signature, albeit in different styles, across every album
