 
It feels to me that I am one of the only people
who appreciated and can remember the band Prego
even though they have only been away from the
music scene for a year or so, well technically
they are away from the music scene for good as
due to a slight line up change and a few other
technicalities the band have decided to change
their name to Union Sound Set which in my eyes
can only be a good thing as it gives Edd Simpson
and co a totally fresh start within the music
scene as in my eyes Prego were one of the most
under rated bands in the UK who never got looked
at no matter how good their songs were.
Union Sound Set have just released their debut
album ‘Start/Stop’ and if you ambient
sound scapes and general mellow instruments playing
or bands such as Bloc Party, People In Planes,
The Boxer rebellion and even Coldplay then you
are going to love the debut album from these guys
as it is crammed with nearly an hour of beautiful
music spread over 11 songs.
The first time you listen to ‘Start/Stop’
it will just breeze past you and not much will
stand out to you but after each and every listen
after you will start to recognise the potential
of certain and songs and before you know it, bam
you become addicted to certain songs and find
yourself listening to those over and over again
whilst ignoring the rest of the album and then
you give the album a listen again and a different
set of songs start to stick out.
The album opens with ‘My Current State [Is
Your Latest Objective] and I feel the 5minute
opener really sets the pace for the rest of the
album with its softly spoken and gentle instrumental
ways, it’s not going to be a song that you
find yourself listening to again and again but
it does give you a real feel of what Union Sound
Set are all about.
‘Cause And Resolve’ is the bands next
single which is due for release on the 29th November
and it is fantastic, it starts off very slow but
builds up into beautiful soundscapes and vocals
after the 45seconds mark and as the song progresses
it is forever building up and breaking down in
excellent style.
‘Trailing’ is a big and loud song
that will stand out to you after a couple of listens.
‘Here’s To You’ is my current
favourite track on the album it starts off sounding
really emotional and as the song progresses Will
Simpson sings “I’m not scared, I’m
not scared” over and over again haunting
over the soft atmospheric soundscapes. ‘Hiding
Places’ is one of the main highlights on
the album and happens to be the first single Union
Sound Set released and the song is crammed full
of style and is so pleasing on the ears, the song
may come across quite simple but it is so catchy
at the same time.
As the album progresses the songs start to sound
bigger and heavier for example ‘The Longest
Calm’ which is track number 8 is so much
louder than any of the previous songs and ‘Answers’
also follows on the loudness in places.
The album closes with ‘Waiting Minds’
which finishes in an epic instrumental way with
powerful guitar riffs, big paced drum beats and
overall pure lovely music to the ears.
‘Start/Stop’ is one of the most listenable
debut albums that I have heard in a long time,
however like mentioned above it is one of those
albums that you have to give a lot of time and
effort to but trust me if you do just that you
will not want to put it down for a long time,
I now really hope Union Sound Set get the praise
and recognition that Prego sadly never got.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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