COSPLAY - Sorry Album Review

Three years on from the band’s sophomore record Anywhere but Here, Sorry return with their third genre-defying album Cosplay. Never ones to put themself into a box, the London five-piece sprinkle hints of trip hop, noise, and post-punk into their guitar and electronic driven indie rock. It’s an 11-track experience that goes from high energy, catchy hooks to confessional ballads that only furthers their uniqueness amongst the rest of the British indie scene. The band’s primary songwriters, frontwoman Asha Lorenz and co-lead vocalist and guitarist Louis O’Bryen, are joined on production credits by Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey.

The first of six singles released, Waxwing, a synth-driven, electronic banger accompanied by Lorenz’ dreamy and breathy vocals, puts forward the album’s themes of romance in a scathingly sarcastic way. A theme that stays consistent on the repetitively catchy opening track Echoes, and through the witty, irony-laced spoken vocals of Jetplane. The band swap out high energy with vulnerability and atmosphere on track Life In This Body with O’Bryen taking vocal lead over the beautiful, building instrumentation. The band closes the album with JIVE, a track that switches from sincerity to noise that gives one last burst of danceable energy before you find yourself questioning which track you’re going to end up looping for the coming days.

Cosplay is arguably the band’s most exciting and mature album yet. It’s as strange as it is addictive and feels like Sorry have put extra care into creating something that stands out not only in their own discography, but amongst the British indie and post-punk revival scene in general. Undoubtedly a record that will generate hype for future setlists and festival spots.

Words by Aella Bentley