Album Review: Clinic - Free Reign

Ever since their brilliantly idiosyncratic third LP, Winchester Cathedral, landed in 2006, Liverpool's off-kilter noiseniks Clinic have been steadfastly creating their own sound, lent credence by frontman Ade Blackburn's androgynous, terse vocals and use of vintage organs and the clarinet. They haven't veered far from the formula that they themselves concocted, even with deviations such as 2010's pop-flecked Bubblegum never far from the familiar.

New album, Free Reign, opens with the excellent Misty, a brooding lurker of a track that is patient in doling out the pay-off, the swirling tempo hypnotic and alluring in equal measure, and alludes to a slight change of pace. Such hopes are dashed with See Saw, which, while not bad, sounds like a paler imitation of themselves. Yet, it's the perfect title, and would have made for a better album moniker, as the nine tracks undulate from mediocrity to refreshing inspiration like a metronome. Miss You experiments with the Clinic staples, offering a jam-oriented take and subdued vocals from Blackburn to create a lysergic moment of bliss, while Sun And The Moon is a psych loop gem. But this is offset by the chirping headache that King Kong becomes after repeated listens, and For The Season is almost non-existent. Producer Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) is a fairly evident participant here, bringing his oblique machinations to the fore, yet these tracks are too languid and freeform to remain relevant for long.

Free Reign is Clinic's seventh release, and while that is a great feat in itself, it doesn't add anything new, neither turning its back on nor recreating the past. It comes off like a smudged carbon copy or a half-forgotten dream – somewhat familiar, yet disappointing due to lack of clarity.