28 November 2023 Reviews
On their second album Tales From New Babel, Barcelona trio Speaker Cabinets continue to highlight the unrestrained and danceable charm of their infectiously fun alternative rock sound, boasting bigger hooks and a more exciting appeal than ever before. The concept album surrounds the story of siblings Suzan and Alan May, and their fight for the rights of the people of New Babel. This narrative is fleshed out throughout the album through their upbeat, fun sound, and six of the tracks have music videos on the band’s YouTube channel to help illustrate and compliment the sci-fi story.
The lofty ambitions of the trio and the sheer scope of the project transcends the musical side of things, with a 6-episode podcast series also available on all digital platforms in order to allow listeners to completely immerse themselves in this all-encompassing story of their creation. It is this lack of any kind of boundaries and restraints that makes Speaker Cabinets feel so exciting and fresh, and this is reflected as much in their music style as everything else. Shades of alternative rock, indie rock, electronica and psychedelic rock are found in their flowing and engrossing sound, in a style that has been progressing in a fluid and adventurous fashion since their emergence back in 2016.
Impossible to put in a box, packed full of surprises and filled with emotional depth and an enticing narrative, Tales From New Babel is a body of work that showcases everything that makes Speaker Cabinets feel so distinctive and exciting. Nacho, Guillem, and Adrià have redefined what it means to be a power trio and built a whole multi-faceted, multi-media world around their sound, and one that listeners won’t want to leave anytime soon.
Tales From New Babel is out now.