Album Review: Hinds - I Don't Run

Through the social media lens of Spanish indie-rock quartet Hinds, these four friends seem to be living the dream, travelling the world on a steady diet of parties, rock'n'roll and good times.

Yet second album I Don't Run suggests that their life's not all beer and skittles: where thrilling 2016 debut Leave Me Alone was the sound of a raucous party, its follow-up feels more like the next morning, a pall of regret and bad decisions mixing with more thrilling memories of good times and the odd blank spot.

The jangly guitars and coquettish-accented vocals of mainstays Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote still mingle thrillingly and their endearing ramshackle edge remains, but tunes like the cruisy New For You, the playfully dismissive Tester, the subtly invective Finally Floating and cheery heartache dissection of To The Morning Light all hint at a new emotional depth in the band's armoury. Co-producer Gordon Raphael helmed The Strokes' debut EP and first two albums, and infectious tunes like The Club and the sultry Soberland revive that NY band's relaxed swagger. But even as lo-fi acoustic lament Ma Nuit brings things home, it's still the band's unabashed camaraderie and chemistry that carry the real connection.