Alright, so let’s just cut to the chase and say that this is probably Normandie’s least impressive album yet. With that, let’s also acknowledge how all Normandie albums have taken their time to properly stand up. Not through any greater progressive ambition; rarely is post-hardcore as warm to a full-blown pop transmutation as with them. But as rock bands have been celebrated for reclaiming the raw and the real, paradoxically, that’s revealed Normandie as one of the better acts in their camp. Capable of some distressingly sticky hooks, and lifted further on the current of Philip Strand as a powerhouse singer, Normandie are the real deal in what they’re doing, particularly on 2021’s Dark & Beautiful Secrets.
With all that being said, and with all prior knowledge of a fairly uncommon warming-over-time process for music like this, Dopamine gives off no such similar impression at all. Somehow, Normandie have found a pop threshold that’s even too much for them, along with a very atypical feel of weakness. This is a band who can believably sell the stylised, embellished heights of popcore, not get smothered and railroaded by it. And yet, from the very first song Overdrive, the signs of this not working are right out in the open. They’ll try for similar bombast of old, only now via a gravelled, grinding riff and swing at ‘upbeat’ kineticism that has no such scope or heaviness.
Bear in mind, Normandie have never been brutal or anything, but they could hold their own in adjacent spaces to modern metal and metalcore. Perhaps they still believe that on Dopamine; they bring in Bury Tomorrow’s Dani Winter-Bates on Hourglass, presumably for the assist in keeping some of that cred intact. But not only does any muscle in its lockstep march and solid chorus become atrophied remarkably fast, there’s no significant power in the grinding production and synth splutters that leave Winter-Bates feeling especially neutered, as his typical lion’s roar is more akin to the scowl and bark of a mildly peeved dog. Not only is Dopamine a far cry from even Normandie’s idea of ‘heavy’, but the pop instincts it’s replaced with barely even sound that good.
And that really underscores the main issue of flimsiness that’s rampant across this album. The lack of a rock band’s strength and physical presence—regardless of how much gloss it’s caked in—leaves it unconvincing when what’s left tries to stand on its own. Often, incongruous extras will take centre stage when they’ve no business being there, like Butterflies’ intrusive, lumbering bass thuds, or the aforementioned clutter of semi-ideas that is Hourglass. It’s no wonder that Dopamine is best when Normandie actually sound like themselves, or at the very least, take on the same shape again. Serotonin and All In My Head are basically keeping the embers of that old sound alight on their own; they’re suitably grand and propulsive, and cognisant of what worked about themselves in the first place. The fact that solid representatives are so few and far between is definitely concerning, and shines focus on just how far Normandie are slipping away from their best. Like, surely there are more useful elements to carry forward than the whooping backing vocals that sound more oversold than ever on Overdrive and Blood In The Water, right?
Dig through the weeds a bit, however, and Dopamine’s pop turns can connect. The strings on Ritual are actually exceptionally tasteful with some lovely flourishes, and despite the opening chipperness of a Niall Horan solo number perhaps being a bridge too far for some, Sorry holds one of the album’s clingier earworms regardless. And anyway, it can still go further, as Glue ratchets up the tartness for a surprisingly clipped closer, with all the presentable but throwaway sheen that defined—or should that be undermined?—Kids In Glass Houses’ last album Peace. Seriously, it could’ve been lifted straight from there, vocal timbre and all, and that’s not a compliment. It’s actually emblematic of how narrow the window Normandie have erected for themselves is in this instance, and how cavalier they can be in missing it entirely. Nowhere is that more blatant than with Philip Strand, who forgoes much of his belting hugeness for a far less flattering mid register, or an outright bad lower one. Especially on Butterflies with a glazed-over groan and no concept of magnitude behind it, any thought process behind it seems totally incorrigible.
After all, it’s not like Normandie needed this kind of overhaul. They’ve never pushed any boundaries, but they’d often feel safe and successful among them; Dopamine, meanwhile, is the leaden alt-pop pivot for which even the most tacit threats would never conceivably be acted upon. But they have, and when the brunt of pushback has landed squarely on Normandie themselves, the decision is all the more baffling. An album about chasing highs is a no-brainer in their previous state, and the lack of anything sufficiently heightened or excited here only contributes to the overall attrition. The step down is considerable, even for a band who were never a forerunning force to begin with. So yeah, it is their least impressive album, and unless there’s so fundamental brain chemistry alteration on the cards, it’s hard to see that viewpoint changing this time.
For fans of: Sleeping With Sirens, Holding Absence, Hands Like Houses
‘Dopamine’ by Normandie is released on 2nd February on Easy Life Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
