Thysen - 'Into The Water // No Rest' Single Review

Thysen are a four-piece band from Huddersfield, specialising in their own unique brand of Shoegaze, Post-Punk and Stoner-Metal influences. Despite still being a relatively new band, they are already on a bit of a hot streak and are releasing their fourth single in less than a year after forming in 2019. ‘Into The Water’ shows a further evolution to the group’s sound, with the Post-Punk vibes of earlier singles such as ‘No Rest’ and ‘Flowless’ giving way to a more Psychedelic, introspective and atmospheric soundscape this time around.

The song opens with rich, chorus-drenched guitars and a soft, reverberating vocal, evoking the image of a lounge band playing on a space station in the distant future. Once the mood is set, the curtain drops and gives way to a driving beat, with echoed backing vocals and intricate guitars building up the tension. The band confidently employ a wide range of dynamics on this tune, as the instrumentation is stripped back again, revealing another softer layer to the track, before a second drop introduces massive, distorted guitars and huge singalong vocals across the chorus. After this intense moment of euphoria, the instrumentation again drops down to just guitars and bass, building up the calm before the storm as the song ends on a huge, cathartic release of an outro. The final chorus gives way to a triumphant guitar solo, that eventually dissolves into a distorted wall of vocals and instruments, before ending things on a more somber note.

The B-Side of this single also includes a new mix of ‘No Rest’, the band’s debut single. Whilst the original mix emphasised the aggression of the track, this slower take on the song relishes in taking its time and building up a truly heavy atmosphere. ‘Heavy’ not in a distorted or aggressive sense, but heavy in the way that the weight of the song just drags the listener down into this pit of all-encompassing sound you can’t escape from. The guitars intertwine in and out of each other, whilst distant vocals leave a fading trail of sound drifting behind them. All of the mood-setting here pays off massively once the song finally reaches its chorus, with epic, passionate vocals soaring over the top of layers of wavey, fuzzy instrumentation.

Every release from this band so far has expanded on previous releases, with the group going from strength to strength each time. ‘Into The Water’ shows a band growing ever more confident in their sound and the inclusion of a new (and in my opinion, superior) mix of ‘No Rest’ also shows how the group are constantly improving themselves. I can’t wait to see where the band takes us next and if previously releases are anything to go by, we’re sure to be in for a surprise.