Albums: Hot Milk A Call To The Void

When Manchester's Hot Milk debuted back in 2019 with Awful Ever After, it would have been easy to write them off as a very talented pop rock outfit. Their sound was fuelled by killer chorus and had an undeniable mainstream appeal. However, having warmed their listenership up to their safer sound, they very quickly shifted direction and headed into darker terrains. Over the course of their subsequent EPs, they showed that while they were not about to lose their hooky drive, their overall sound would be alternative rock with an understanding of pop appeal, rather than a pop driven rock sound.

As they finally reach their debut album, A Call To The Void, the magnifying lens shines brightly over the duo who are tipped for stadium style greatness. While with that pressure comes expectation, Hot Milk have shown time and again over the course of their early sonic progression that they are not wanting to simply fit into to the mould.

As a result Call To The Void is a very varied, yet surprisingly cohesive debut album. While it contains some rather predictable sing along anthems to get the audiences revved up at a gig - from the irrepressible Busted on heat Alice Cooper's Pool House to the epic synthpop rock bite of Bloodstream - it is actually when they move away from the stadium charge that they really shine.

With the metalcore bop Over Your Dead Body, blissfully beautiful Halsey-esque Forget Me Not and explosive Horror Show all proving distinctively key moments, A Call To The Void effortlessly shows why Hot Milk are tipped for such greatness.

Hot Milk have elements of many of their contemporaries, but they stand out for fusing them together so uniquely. A Call To The Void occasionally suffers from over-production, but the songs are strong enough to shine regardless.

Impressive.