Album Review: Chastity Belt - I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone

Echoey and with a distinct indie twinge, Chastity Belt start charmingly mellow on I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone.

Openers Different Now and Caught In A Lie deliver just enough heartbreak, supported by a jangly thin guitar line. Particularly sweet is the change in It's Obvious, using slightly brighter tones and colours but with a lilting chorus. Mid album track Complain isn't exactly sparky, but it's not entirely gloomy either; if Courtney Barnett had a different distortion pedal and was at the end of a super long tour, this could easily be her. Similarly, What The Hell evolves, ever so slightly, to shoegaze with a bit more twang than earlier tracks and there's some dark humour there too.

A distinct feeling of building frustration burns through as the album progresses, with Something Else showing real longing. Used To Spend is some of the most interesting work on the album, with more dynamics and exploration in this track than others. The opening up of vocals on Used To Spend is great to sing along to, and it's dangerously close to even being happy after the bridge. There's also something distinctly Smiths-like about 5am — only with a much better injection of local talent rather than borderline crazy Morrissey.