Tigercub return with new album ‘As Blue As Indigo’ – their first new material since the ‘Evolve or Die’ EP. Since then, frontman Jamie Hall’s gonzoid psych-pop side project Nancy has taken off (Hype Machine’s most blogged artist and playing shows around the world) but for now he’s fully focused on Tigercub – with this record exploring topics including anxiety, depression, toxic masculinity and mortality through the prism of colour theory…

The title track opens the album with some Jeff Buckley-style guitar work as Jamie pleads ‘Let me reap what I sow. Black and blue, indigo’ amidst a fusion of thunderous drumbeats and potent riffs that reminded us of Hell is for Heroes. He then offers a stark warning: ‘There’s poison in the water and there’s poison in the well’. The grunge-infused ‘Sleepwalker’ carries on this trened as Jamie opens up about getting to grips with his own emotions, talking about teardrops and shame with refreshing candour. ‘Blue Mist in My Head’ continues this brand of emotional storytelling – ‘People keep pretending I’m their friend’ – albeit against a backing of more danceable and melodic sensibilities. Things than take another turn with the fuzzed-up ‘Infinity Land’-esque sound of lead single ‘Stop Beating On My Heart (Like a Bass Drum)’.

Album centrepiece ‘Funeral’ calms things down with poignant strings and restrained instrumentation as Jamie talks about missing someone who is no longer here and offers a promise to stay strong in their absence: ‘Now you’re gone, I fall apart’; I’ll never let you go. You’ll never be alone. The show must go on’. ‘Built to Fail’ continues in this calmer vein with a gently experimental opening full of effects, soulful vocals and psych-tinged melodies, while ‘As Long As You’re Next to Me’ is a short and bouncy song about finding out who your friends and enemies are and having a heavy heart: ‘You try to tell me who you want to be’. The album draws to a close with the scattergun, stop-start sound of ‘In the Autumn of My Years’ – and it’s one that blasts through the speakers.

‘As Blue as Indigo’ is an album that will bring various shades of colour into your life…