Album Review: Cults Find “Host” In Dark Forces

It is absolutely not surprising that Cults’ Host feels like a fantasy noir. I floated through that record like a kite, and I was happy doing so. It is a mixture of seedy and significant like a woman facing off with her life’s jury. There is an “end of the world/ rebirth” vibe to this album that makes total sense for where we are in 2020.

If the Cults want to “host” the Apocalypse, I would happily attend. Their music makes you want to sweetly face off with impending doom, which might be our very elections. With songs like, “Trials,””Purgatory,” “A Low,” and “Shoulders To My Feet,” every synth and chord hold an investigative feel with Madeline Follin’s voice peeling back lyrics as if they are the details to her case.

Cults – Trials (Official Video)

Going off on that “jury scenario,” I previously mentioned, Madeline’s voice coolly jump and leaps through verses to breathe escapism in every track. With themes like insecurities, toxic relationships, and the parasitic dynamic between citizen and society, the record feels very present to the current cynicism and sinister forces people are confronting. From “Monolithic” to “Spit You Out,” for being an album that sings to confronting darkness, it feels like the Cults’ lightest, especially because it is driven by the hope that you can.

Cults – Monolithic (Official Video)

After reaching a creative roadblock, the entire album was written about the search for confidence, and what it is to face off with those that sabotage us, even if it means ourselves. Such a message feels prevalent, but, of course, Cults make it sound sexy and 60’s retro such as in, “Like I Do” and “No Risk.” The result is a record that gives listeners a fantasy noir they wish could be an eternal audiobook for their life. Cults’ Host Comes Out September 18. Click Here TO Buy. 

Cults – Spit You Out (Official Video)